Over 1 lakh women athletes participate in 'Khelo India Dus ka Dum'
Apr 14, 2023
New Delhi [India], April 14 : The Khelo India Dus ka Dum event, which was held pan-India from March 10 to 31, in commemoration of the International Women's Day 2023, saw a massive 1 lakh-plus participation by girls from all over the country in 1,500-plus sports events. Madhya Pradesh has had the highest representation of athletes with 30975 athletes competing across 580 events.
Madhya Pradesh is followed by Andhra Pradesh, which saw a total participation of 17011 female athletes across 150 events. The events were organized by State and District administrations and held across States across Cities/Districts, Universities across Campuses/Colleges, SAI Regional Centres across its National Centres of Excellence, SAI Training Centres, Extension Centres, Khelo India Centres, Khelo India State Centres of Excellence as well as Khelo India Accredited Academies. The National Sports Federations also joined in through its State or Districts unit in consultation and support of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and other stakeholders.
The Department of Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, under the Sports for Women component of the Khelo India Scheme, integrated the International Women's Day celebrations, with the organization of sports competitions for multiple age groups of women across the nation. The 'Dus ka Dum' event was held from Srinagar in Jammu to Thrissur in Kerala and Kokrajhar in Assam to Amravati in Maharashtra and Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. The sports disciplines featured were Kho-kho, Swimming, Athletics, Wushu, Archery, Fencing, Judo, Weightlifting, Hockey and Yogasana.
The event was inaugurated by Honourable Union Minister, MYAS, Anurag Thakur at the JLN Stadium on March 10. Over the course of the events, several high-profile politicians too were present across several venues to cheer the athletes during the events. Brijesh Pathak, Deputy CM, Uttar Pradesh was present in Meerut, C R Patil, MP, Gandhinagar was present in Sanskardham, Govind Gaude, Honourable Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs, Goa, was present in Mapusa, Taba Tedir, Honourable Minister Educational, cultural and Indigenous Affairs, Arunachal Pradesh was present in Itanagar, among others.
On social media, the 'Khelo India Dus ka Dum' reached massive impressions. The total reach was 140 million and the total number of interactions during the course of the event reached over 1.4 million.
The 'Dus ka Dum' event was a continuation of the numerous Khelo India Women's Leagues that have taken place over the course of the last year. The Women's Leagues witnessed more than 240 competitions with the participation of more than 23,000 women athletes across various age groups. The Khelo India Women's League have been held in more than 50 cities located across 27 different States/UTs. Multiple national records have also been set during various stages of the League.
The main purpose of these leagues was to not only strengthen the domestic competition structure and talent identification but also to empower the girl athlete to compete and find their footing in sports as a career.
