Analysis Of Yojana Magazine (July 2022) : Tribals in Sports

Yojana Magazine is a very important and indispensable source for UPSC Civil Services Exam Preparation. Here, we come with ”Analysis Of Yojana Magazine” which covers the monthly Yojana Magazine keeping in mind the demand of UPSC, particularly from the topics of important government schemes.

In ‘‘Analysis Of Yojana Magazine,” we cover each and every topic of the Yojana edition of a particular month and provide an easy-to-understand gist.

This topic-wise analysis is prepared from the July 2022 edition of the monthly Yojana Magazine.

Tribals in Sports: Introduction

• Traditional games and sports, especially of the tribals, have become very relevant in the current context. The tribal traditional games and sports have been rooted in their cultural, aesthetic and work traditions.
• In the tribal context, games and sports are in many ways related to their life style, environment, culture, resources and exposure to outer world.
• The tribal sportspersons have been showing affinities to certain sports disciplines like hockey, football, archery, kho-kho, athletics, weightlifting, powerlifting, etc.
• Revamping the infrastructure in such sports disciplines and putting adequate trainers and coaches in place would ensure progress of tribal sports talent.

Sports in tribal-dominated areas

• Sports such as hockey, archery, athletics, wrestling, kho-kho, kabaddi, volleyball, swimming, canoeing-kayaking, taekwondo, judo, shooting and horse riding are extremely famous among tribals.
• Hockey – Jaipal Singh Munda, Sylvanus Dung Dung, Birendra Lakra, Beauty Dungdung, Pramodini Lakra, Nikki Pradhan, Salim Tete and Mahima Tete are well-known hockey players from tribal backgrounds.
• Archery – Deepika Kumari who became the world’s number one archer and is also a Padma Shri and Arjuna Awardee is from a tribal-dominated area.
  • Garo Ho, Rimil Buriuli, Purmina Mohato, and Laxmirani Majhi are other noted Indian archers from tribal-dominated areas.

Tribals in Sports: Key Government Schemes

Schemes for the development of sports in the country, including the tribal areas:

1. Khelo India- National Programme for Development of Sports
2. Assistance to National Sports Federations
3. Special Awards to Winners in International Sports Events and their Coaches
4. National Sports Awards
5. Pension to Meritorious Sportspersons
6. Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay National Sports Welfare Fund
7. National Sports Development Fund
8. Running Sports Training Centres through Sports Authority of India.

Further, one of the verticals of the Khelo India Scheme, namely, “Promotion of rural and indigenous/tribal games”, is specifically dedicated to encouraging and showcasing of traditional sports of the country.

Also, the Department of Youth Affairs through Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) conducts programmes for the Promotion of Sports to develop sports culture among rural youth in 623 Districts across the country, including tribal areas. It has two components, namely,

(i)         Providing Sports kits to Youth Clubs- Under this programme, sports kits are provided to selected NYK Youth Clubs so that they may undertake sports activities on regular basis.

(ii)        Organization of Block and District Level Sports Meets- NYKS organizes Sports Tournaments at Block & District Level among Youth Clubs.

Tribal Youth Exchange Programme

• NYKS is implementing Tribal Youth Exchange Programme in collaboration with Left Wing Extremism (LWE) Division of Ministry of Home Affairs.
• The programme aims to sensitize LWE area tribal youth to the rich cultural heritage of the country, enable them to appreciate the concept of unity in diversity, expose them to development activities and technological/ industrial advancement in other parts of the country, develop their personality by enhancing their understanding of the needs and providing them necessary career counselling.
• During Tribal Youth Exchange Programme, traditional games and sports is also showcased.

Tribals in Sports: What should be done?

• Skill development at early stage and continuous skill development after induction remains as a grey area in all the states.
• Tribal populations in the range of 90-96% have been residing in rural areas hence infrastructure development in rural areas needs to be expedited.
• Some states like Jharkhand has got its sports policy prepared since 2007, and Chhattisgarh also prepared the draft policy in 2016 but states like Odisha is not having a sports policy.
• A special prioritization and categorization of the sports disciplines need to be developed especially keeping in view the interest and aspirations of the tribal sports talents so as to create conditions for self-initiated participation of tribal sportspersons.
• Local sports meets intending scouting of sports talents should be professionally organized so as to ensure not a single sports talent was left behind from the talent test.
• The need for a joint and coordinated approach by including public and private sector, in pooling their resources to promote sports in the country.

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