The Government of India under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister has brought sports and youth affairs into the centre stage and given a fillip to the overall ecosystem in the country through 360-degree support. Thus, the Budget Allocation for the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has also seen a manifold increase over the years, from a mere Rs. 466 crores in 2004-05 to Rs. 3397.32 crores for the forthcoming financial year 2023-24.
The Budget allocation for the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has been increased by 11%in comparison toFY 2022-23. This is the highest ever budget allocation for the Ministry since 2010 when Commonwealth Games were held in India. The Budget allocation is more than three times the budget of 2011-12 and is almost two times the budget of 2014-15.
The Budget allocation for the Department of Sports is Rs. 2462.59 croreagainst the last year’s allocation of Rs. 2254crore andfor the Department of Youth Affairs is Rs. 934.73 croreagainst the last year’s allocation of Rs. 808.60 crore.
Major schemes/organisations of the Ministry having substantial increase of budget outlay this year areKhelo India (Rs. 1000 crore), Sports Authority of India (Rs. 785.52 crore), Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan(Rs. 401.49 crore), National Sports Federations(Rs. 325 crore) and National Service Scheme(Rs. 325 crore).
Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Sh. Anurag Singh Thakur applauded the Union Budget 2023-24 and expressed his gratitude to Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman for giving priority to sports and youth sector.Shri Anurag Thakur said, “Recognising the need to completely revamp the existing sports ecosystem in the country, Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, since the very beginning, has given unprecedented attention to grassroots-level talent identification, infrastructure building, support to elite athletes and creating an overall sports culture that would provide equal opportunities to women, the divyang and the youth from far flung areas. The result of this has been the introduction of unique schemes and programmes, like the Khelo India Scheme, Fit India Movement, Target Olympic Podium, Mission Olympic Cell and so on. These programmes have proved to be very successful and are widely acclaimed across the country. With the Prime Minister injecting a renewed vigour into sports, a large number of historic firsts have also been recorded in India’s sporting history since 2014”.
One of the special initiatives of the Department of Youth Affairs in the coming year will be building a Yuva Leadership Portal to reach out to youth and engage them in various activities so as to improve their leadership skills and inculcate a greater sense of responsibility towards society. The portal is being designed as a registry for young people who wish to enrol for any activity that improves the quality of life of the community and also increases their income-earning capacity. It would help to connect the youth of the country with various urban and rural local bodies, small businesses, farmer-producer groups and cooperative societies with a special focus on digital literacy and financial literacy. Such an engagement would provide experiential learning to the youth, improve their leadership skills and at the same time, improve productivity of local communities. It is in harmony with the vision of India as a prosperous and caring nation. The project is expected to be completed and the portal launched in less than a year.
The Capex provisions in the Budget of the Ministry is for Rs. 935.68 crore (27% of the budget) which includes the Grants for creation of Capital Assets.
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