India’s Capital State, New Delhi will soon be hosting a Sports University. As per recent news, Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has announced that a “Sports University” will soon be established in Mundka, New Delhi.
India’s education culture is wide-spread. From universities focusing on developing trained science and mathematics professionals to crafting artistic individuals in the field of art & culture, we have everything. However even after 70+ years of independence, almost 2 decades in the 21st century, India did not have any official university, focusing on sports & related activities.
This streak is soon to be broken by Delhi State. Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, former IAS officer, recently announced in a press conference that Delhi will soon have a sports university.
On Thursday, 3rd October, while speaking at a press conference, Kejriwal said that a bill in this regard was approved by the cabinet and would be sent to Lieutenant Governor (LG) Anil Baijal for approval. Once the bill is approved by Lt Governor, it will be forwarded to the Assembly.
The chief minister also said that the Sports University will be made on a 90 acre land in the Mundka area of Delhi NCR. As per the details provided by AAP officials, the ‘Delhi Sports University (DSU) Bill’ empowers the university to establish schools and colleges focused on providing physical and sports education. The university will be focused on the students who would excel in various sports. The students will be groomed on various sports aspects.
This comes years after many sportspeople from the country have struggled their way to gain the attention they deserved. In India, there are millions of young students, who may not be best with their studies, but they knew their ways with different sports and games. However, in the absence of any official, authorized institute, these people felt it hard to get their way through a college graduation programmes.
However, now that a university has been announced in this regard, students will have better opportunities in the field of sports and physical education. Earlier also, the chief minister said that a sportsperson used to face uncertainties about their future that if he/she will be able to establish a career in sports? This person would be otherwise called as just a school pass out.
Sports Curriculum
The university will be providing curriculum at different levels of education, including graduation, post-graduation and doctorate programmes. There is already a sports quota in many universities for students to gain a bit edge than other students if they excel at any sports. But now, they will have a separate university if they do not want to pursue professional study in sciences, commerce, arts etc. The players will be able to pursue a sports career.
While illustrating the benefits, Kejriwal also said that a sportsperson could also appear in the civil services examination after passing out from the university because he would be considered a sports graduate after getting the degree from the sports university.
While highlighting the problems for players & sports oriented personnel, Deputy Chief Minister, Manish Sisodia said during the conference that most of the students had to compromise when it came to sports to keep up with their performance in the theoretical studies.
During the press conference, Sisodia said “Some of the students I know are pursuing their graduation from SOL (School of Open Learning) to manage sports and studies both. The share of jobs under sports quota is also limited. We are hoping to eradicate that uncertainty from the minds of sportspersons.”
He further elaborated “the vice-chancellor of the university would be an experienced sportsperson.”
While talking about the development and future of the university, Kejriwal said that the university’s curriculum & subjects are being developed after due discussions with the experts. Many experts have been involved at various stages of the syllabus and programme development to design and give a definite structure to the curriculum of the sports-focused courses.
Other Initiatives By AAP Govt
Unlike many politicians of the country who are barely high school pass-outs, Arvind Kejriwal was formerly an IAS officer. He has been able to make Delhi better in many aspects over the years of his service as CM of the state.
Apart from this, free public transport (bus and metro) for women, no electricity bill for people consuming less than 200 units, new street vendors act to protect the hawkers from eviction, free water supply, free health care services through area-specific clinics, skill entrepreneurship university for the youth and so many other programmes, policies and schemes have been curated by the AAP government which paves a clear path for the development of Delhi NCR.
