At a time when Assembly elections are being held in 5 States, the Naveen Patnaik authorities in Odisha has launched an formidable initiative geared toward youth. The Integrated Youth Development Programme (IYDP) envisages a flurry of sports activities tournaments and cultural competitions for college kids by means of December and January, barely a number of months earlier than the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

While the Odisha authorities says the scheme’s major purpose is to foster engagement of youth in sports activities, tradition, and social endeavours, dissenting voices from Opposition events dismissed it as a calculated transfer for political benefit.

Over 12,000 groups with members within the age group of 13-35 years have registered to take part in tournaments in six disciplines — cricket, hockey, soccer, kabaddi, kho-kho, and volleyball — below the ‘Yuba Odisha Nabin Odisha (Nua-O)‘ initiative. Currently, the Department of Sports and Youth Services has 5,000 groups registered for cricket, 2,000 groups for soccer, 200 groups for hockey, 1,300 groups for kabbadi, 700 groups for kho-kho, and 1,700 groups registered to compete in volleyball.

According to the division, a gaggle of youth with a real cellphone and WhatsApp quantity, and Aadhaar playing cards, can register their crew for any of the six disciplines, and turn out to be eligible to take part in block-level sports activities tournaments to be funded by the State authorities.

Six departments have been roped in to make sure the scheme reaches all sections of youths, from college students to farmers. The Sports Department has already began putting funds with academic institutes below 5 totally different classes. Institutions with over 2,000 college students are receiving ₹9 lakh every, and people with between 1,000-2,000 college students get ₹6 lakh. They can spend the funds on sports activities competitions, cultural actions, and branding and social actions. “Under the Nua-O scheme, we are funding colleges for various sports, culture, and social work activities,” Odisha Sports Secretary Vineen Krishna mentioned.

The State unit of the BJP mentioned the Nua-O scheme was geared toward transferring authorities funds to totally different elements of State within the title of youth empowerment and sports activities promotion. “Just before the 2019 elections, the Naveen Patnaik government had come up with Biju Yuva Bahini, an ambitious programme for youth empowerment. Crores of rupees were splurged in buying mobile phones and taking youths, mostly affiliated with the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), on foreign tours. The Biju Yuva Bahini no more exists now. The Nua-O is a similar scheme aimed at ensuring political gains ahead of elections,” Anil Biswal, BJP spokesperson, mentioned.

“Had the Naveen Patnaik government been serious about the promotion of sports, Odisha would have figured at the top of the medal tally in the National Games. States without any proper sports infrastructure have left Odisha behind. The State government talks about youth empowerment only when elections are around,” Mr. Biswal mentioned.