The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has sanctioned Rs 17.85 crore as central assistance to five states, for procuring sports consumables and honour community coaches.
The states which have got the assistance are Karnataka, Odisha, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.
The assistance is also for “the development and maintenance of playfields and for the conduct of sports competitions under Panchayat Yuva Krida Aur Khel Abhiyan (PYKKA).”
The PYKKA scheme, which was introduced in 2008-09, aims at the development and maintenance of playfields in villages and block panchayats across the country and organizing annual sports competitions from block to national level, which is implemented through the State Governments/Union Territories.
In total, 51,759 village panchayats and 1,538 block panchayats have been covered under the PYKKA Scheme, during the last four years (2008-09 to 2011-12) for development and maintenance of playfields.