At a time when Assembly elections are being held in five States, the Naveen Patnaik government in Odisha has launched an ambitious initiative aimed at youth. The Integrated Youth Development Programme (IYDP) envisages a flurry of sports tournaments and cultural competitions for students through December and January, barely a few months before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
While the Odisha government says the scheme’s primary aim is to foster engagement of youth in sports, culture, and social endeavours, dissenting voices from Opposition parties dismissed it as a calculated move for political advantage.
Over 12,000 teams with members in the age group of 13-35 years have registered to participate in tournaments in six disciplines — cricket, hockey, football, kabaddi, kho-kho, and volleyball — under the ‘Yuba Odisha Nabin Odisha (Nua-O)‘ initiative. Currently, the Department of Sports and Youth Services has 5,000 teams registered for cricket, 2,000 teams for football, 200 teams for hockey, 1,300 teams for kabbadi, 700 teams for kho-kho, and 1,700 teams registered to compete in volleyball.
According to the department, a group of youth with a genuine phone and WhatsApp number, and Aadhaar cards, can register their team for any of the six disciplines, and become eligible to participate in block-level sports tournaments to be funded by the State government.
Six departments have been roped in to ensure the scheme reaches all sections of youths, from students to farmers. The Sports Department has already started placing funds with educational institutes under five different categories. Institutions with over 2,000 students are receiving ₹9 lakh each, and those with between 1,000-2,000 students get ₹6 lakh. They can spend the funds on sports competitions, cultural activities, and branding and social activities. “Under the Nua-O scheme, we are funding colleges for various sports, culture, and social work activities,” Odisha Sports Secretary Vineen Krishna said.
The State unit of the BJP said the Nua-O scheme was aimed at transferring government funds to different parts of State in the name of youth empowerment and sports 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, said.
“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 said.
