It is often seen that due to lack of playground, children cannot play sports, and this affects their overall fitness as well as their mental health. In the same way, due to the lack of running track in the villages, young people who want to join the army are seen running on the rough roads. It’s also a common sight to see village youth playing cricket on the lanes or on agricultural fields. But in one district in Rajasthan, the scene is different. In Pali district, model playground and mini stadium are being built in every gram panchayat, thanks to the 2012-batch IAS officer and Pali District Collector, Mr. Namit Mehta and his Khelo Pali initiative.
Indian Masterminds interacted with Mr. Mehta to get more details.
ALL PANCHAYATS TO HAVE MINI STADIUMS
The officer got posted here in January and soon after he started taking keen interest in promoting sports among the youth of the district.
Pali district has 341gram panchayats. In 10 panchayats, playground work has already been completed, in 80 panchayats, work is in progress, while in 150 panchayats, work is about to start. By 31 March 2023, all panchayats will have model playground and a mini stadium.
KHELO PALI
Speaking to Indian Masterminds, Mr. Mehta said, “Model sports ground is a component within NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act). When I came here in January this year, I saw a sarpanch making a playground in his village. I thought if a sarpanch can do it, then why can’t it be done by us? So, we implemented that model in all gram panchayats by improvising a little.Model sports grounds will be built inside the biggest school of every gram panchayat headquarter.”
FUNDS USED FOR GOOD CAUSE
Under NREGA, some items like basketball poles, nets, etc., are not allowed. So,the officer motivated the sarpanches to buy this stuff from the funds that they get from the Finance Commission for development works.And as a result, sports grounds are being built in villages costing around 24 to 35 lakhs.
“Believe me, these grounds are becoming so beautiful that when you go to rural areas, it makes your heart happy to see them. There are proper badminton courts, proper basketball grounds, running tracks, cricket grounds, etc.,” Mr. Mehta said.
MINI STADIUMS
He further informed that they are also building mini stadiums with a pavilion for shade. “All big programmes at the gram panchayat level can be held here,whether it is a function of national importance like 15 August or 26 January, or some sports or cultural programme.”
VISION SUCCESSFUL
He also talked about the ambitious plan of the state government to hold Rural Olympics, the purpose of which is to provide children in rural areas a platform to show their talents in sports. “Now that we are building playgrounds in villages, these will go a long way in helping them prepare for such sports competitions.”
He added that the best part is they have not used any additional resources in this initiative,only utilised NREGA fund and sarpanch’s fund judiciously.
