Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday launched Sports Authority of India's (SAI) first-of-its-kind mobile application, 'Khelo India App' in order to create awareness about sports and fitness in the country.
The application, developed by SAI as part of the Khelo India Scheme, aims to further the Prime Minister's vision to develop the sporting ecosystem in India and turn it into a global sporting superpower in the years to come.
"Today marks a momentous leap forward for sports in India. The application will revolutionise every aspect of fitness and sports in the country and harness technology to help identify and nurture talent from a young age," Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said.
The application has three unique features that will make it convenient for youngsters to take up sport and also help to identify potential champions among children, across the country.
In the first section, users will receive information about the basic rules and regulations of 18 sports disciplines. It is a beginner's guide to what the game is about, equipments needed to play, rules to follow while playing the game and scoring parameters.
In the second section, the user can access an exhaustive repository of data of sporting facilities across the country where one can pursue a sport in his or her hometown.
The list includes SAI facilities, SAI-supported facilities and private facilities. The application contains details like address, phone numbers, location and also the sporting facilities available at the venue.
The final section is the most dynamic feature which will help to map the basic fitness levels of children starting as early as five years for all school going students in India.
The fitness section has eight tests that can be used to ascertain not just the level of fitness of a child but can also determine which sporting discipline a child can excel in.
The data of the fitness tests conducted by physical education teachers of schools will be fed into the application and be used to identify possible champions from across the country.
The application is available both in Hindi and English and once downloaded can be used even when the parent or teacher does not have connectivity to the internet.
This will ensure that even those children who live and study in villages, and who may not have constant access to the internet can use this application.
