The Indian Knowledge System (IKS) division of the Education Ministry is within the means of implementing the primary ‘Bharatiya Games’ initiative in faculties all through the nation. As a part of implementing this initiative, faculties would want to nominate a bodily schooling trainer as some extent of contact who would oversee the event of annual and month-to-month coaching programmes for college students. In addition to this, the bodily schooling trainer would additionally want to observe the educational graph of the scholars in numerous indigenous video games.
The bigger purpose of the initiative is to make sure the inclusivity of the scholars residing within the countryside the place sports activities infrastructure is poor. In the primary section, the initiative can be carried out throughout 1,000 faculties all through the nation which can progressively prolong to all the colleges. In this regard, IKS has additionally collaborated with the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and numerous state-level nodal sports activities authorities. In the primary section, 12 outside video games like Lagori (Pittu), Nondi, Nadee Parvat, Jod Saakli, Nalugu Rallu Atta, Cheel Jhapatta, Vish-Amrit, Gilli Danda, Gella Chatt, Atya Paty, Kabaddi, and Pacha Kuthirai can be launched.
Speaking to Education Times, Ganti S Murthy, nationwide coordinator, IKS, says, “Most conventional games that are played these days require expensive infrastructure. Many instances have come to the fore where many students from poor financial backgrounds cannot take to sports as neither they have the financial means nor the requisite sporting infrastructure is available. Hence, the main aim behind introducing indigenous Indian games in schools is to ensure the inclusivity of all the students from different strata of society, especially from the rural belt of the country. As there are not many sports facilities in rural areas, students living in the countryside are not able to play and thus develop a sporting temperament.
The students can learn and get trained in the indigenous Indian games without needing expensive infrastructure as a prerequisite. This would ensure that an inclusive sports ecosystem is evolved in the country. The physical education teachers in the schools would be the partners in this national endeavour. Students will be taught one indigenous game by their physical education teachers every month and the teachers would be provided with the necessary resources to introduce these games to their students. The best-performing schools will be recognised every month.”
“Also, most of the games that are played these days are very competitive on an individualistic basis and do not focus on nurturing collaborative traits among students. Bharatiya games have been designed in such a way that they focus on collaboration, camaraderie, and team spirit,” provides Murthy.
Sangeeta Goswami, an skilled in Indian indigenous video games, says, “This initiative will start with a small set of schools to get the process checked and validated. In the next phase, it will be extended to more number of schools across the country. In this regard, the IKS division is collaborating with the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and various other state-level sports authorities to ensure that this initiative is a success. The IKS division has already connected with Pittu Federation of India (PFI) and there are hopes that at least ten more such federations come up in the next five years.”