MYAS, SAI teams discuss the preparations for Khelo India University Games ’22 at Jain Global Campus in Bengaluru. Source: Jain Group
Two teams — one from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) and another from the Sports Authority of India (SAI) — have visited the Jain Global Campus and the Jain Sports School in Bengaluru to review preparations for the much-awaited Khelo India University Games (KIUG) 2022.
KIUG ’22 is set to take place between April 24 and May 3 at the Jain Global Campus, Jain Sports School, Sri Kanteerava Stadium (Indoor & Outdoor), Hockey Stadium and SAI Shooting Range in Bengaluru. The teams met the competition managers on March 17.
As many as 16 out of the 20 sports events will be convened at the Jain campuses. Over 8,500 participants under the age of 26 from around 200 universities across India are expected to participate. The major events will be broadcasted on Doordarshan/DD sports.
The ministry team was led by MYAS secretary Sujata Chaturvedi and the SAI team was led by SAI director and Games Technical Conduct Committee (GTCC) chairperson Amar Jyothi as well as MYAS joint secretary and GTCC co-chairperson Baljit Singh Sekhon. The teams met the competition managers and discussed the preparedness in the presence of SAI secretary Rohit Bhardwaj.
During the sessions, MYAS secretary Chaturvedi said, “KIUG is designed to encourage the Indian youth to participate in the sports and showcase their talent to the world. We must work together to make sure the arrangements are safe and favourable for the participants to ensure smooth execution of KIUG 2022.”
Shalini Rajneesh, additional chief secretary of the department of Youth Empowerment and Sports, Karnataka; HN Gopala Krishna, commissioner, department of Youth Empowerment and Sports; SAI executive director Radhika Shreeman; and Ritu A Pathik, regional director, SAI, Bengaluru were part of the visiting committee among others. They were welcomed by Jain (deemed-to-be-university) chancellor Chenraj Roychand and a team from the institution.
Prolonged meetings focused on the readiness of the grounds and equipment. A meeting with the competition managers dealt with participants, the number of games, live telecasts, age cut-offs and other challenges faced by them. Facilities at the stadiums, equipment for the inaugural event, invitations to the Prime Minister of India and other dignitaries, flow of events, following COVID-19 protocols for the events, local transportation of the participants and the requirement of Green-Corridor by the state government were also discussed.
SAI secretary Bhardwaj said, “For KIUG 2022, our key focus is adherence to the global standards of sports, maintaining a highly professional approach, fair play, and readiness for a smooth execution for this massive sporting event. We are closely monitoring the progress with the JAIN Group and working together towards the same goal. So far, the planning and executions are as per the speculated timeline, we have discussed a few points today and we are extending our complete support to the team for hassle-free execution of the event plans on time.”
Chancellor Roychand added, “As the official hosts of KIUG, we reiterate our commitment to make this distinguished event a grand success and continue to uphold our core values of nurturing sports talent in the country. We are hopeful that KIUG will set up an array of innumerable opportunities in sports for the budding talents who will make the country proud in the global forums.”