The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has decided to provide grants to 100 district associations to fuel the growth of the sport across the country.
The grant will also help the associations compete in the National Inter-District Junior Athletics Meet (NIDJAM) each year.
AFI President Adille Sumariwalla said it would be a pilot project this year and the support would be extended to more districts in a couple of years.
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“We have always encouraged and recognised work at the grass-roots level, and we believe that this would be the first time a National Sports Federation is providing grants to district associations,” he said.
Sumariwalla said AFI is confident that the move would act as a fillip to track and field sport.
“We know that we have to broaden the base to be able to find the talent that can be nurtured to passionately and pursue Olympic dreams,” he said.
The AFI President said the idea had the support of the Sports Ministry under the Khelo India programme.
“We met the Ministry and Sports Authority of Indian officials a few weeks ago to finalise the modalities of this game-changing move,” Sumariwalla said.
At the recent Annual General Meeting of AFI, officials of state associations were told in clear terms to shape up or ship out.
The Federation is planning a meeting with the presidents and secretaries of close to 500 districts to share details of the AFI development programme and motivate them to make athletics more popular in their respective districts.
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