Mahit Anand
The new National Sports Policy 2024 (NSP) represents an ambitious roadmap to transform the sporting landscape in India. The policy’s vision of “Sports for Nation Building to Harness the Power of Sports for Nation’s Holistic Development in Amrit Kaal” is timely, necessary and well-positioned.
Building on past policies and lessons learned from recent international competitions, the NSP is crafted to address multiple dimensions of sports development, including the strengthening of governance and institutional frameworks; talent identification and development of systems; enhancing sports infrastructure and ensuring equitable access to all aspiring athletes; creation of athlete-centric support systems; promoting social development and inclusion through sports; encouraging public-private partnerships and revamping funding mechanisms; administrative reform; and embedding physical literacy into the education system.
Structured around the five key pillars — (i) Nation’s Excellence on the Global Stage (ii) Sports for Economic Development (iii) Sports for Social Development (iv) Sports: A People’s Movement (v) Alignment between the NSP and the National Educational Policy, 2020 (NEP) — the draft policy presents a forward-thinking and comprehensive vision for transforming the sporting landscape.
While the NSP establishes a robust preliminary framework and offers a structured, inclusive and ambitious roadmap to leverage sports as a medium to build the nation, the initiatives under each pillar may require additional focus and targeted suggestions to fully realise its transformative potential. In this series, we will share our insights on how the NSP can better achieve its strategic goals and enhance its impact on India’s sporting ecosystem.
Alignment between the NSP and the NEP
In a transformative approach towards youth development, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has sought to align the NSP with the NEP. By doing so, the NSP advocates for integrating sports into the core of educational institutions, with the aim of cultivating physically, mentally, and socially empowered citizens. The alignment of these policies signals India’s recognition of the role sports can play in shaping a balanced, skilled, and health-conscious society.
The NSP calls for the formulation of a framework for active engagement of sports groups and circles in educational institutions by establishing partnerships with local sports organisations and creating structured programmes that encourage participation and talent development within the educational settings. While a novel idea, the NSP should make daily physical education classes, including team-based sports, a mandatory, graded part of the curriculum across primary, secondary, and higher education levels, as emphasised in the NEP’s multidisciplinary approach. This will ensure development of collaboration, self-discipline and cognitive skills amongst the students, while fostering lifelong healthy habits.
Further, there must be creation of modules that blend sports with other subjects (eg. physics in sports, sports history and sports physiology), encouraging students to explore sports through a multidisciplinary lens. For example, using disciplines like cricket or athletics to teach the physics of motion can make these scientific concepts more tangible and interesting, leading to engaging and practical learning experiences.
Building Infrastructure and Community Engagement
The NSP promotes the establishment of partnerships and active engagement with local sports organisations. One of the ways this can be achieved is by drawing a nexus between educational institutions and local sports education centres to create structured and comprehensive programmes that promote widespread student involvement and participation and talent development. Development of sports facilities in schools and universities should also be undertaken to serve surrounding communities, ensuring that high quality infrastructure benefits both students and community members. This will lead to increased student engagement and talent identification.
For the Latest Sports News: Click Here
Facility upgrades can be undertaken by pooling resources from both education and sports budgets to upgrade existing sports facilities, ensuring that all schools have access to basic infrastructure as well as access to government grants for special equipment needs.
The NSP requires liaising with stakeholders to address the resource and infrastructure needs, ensuring that individuals have access to sports facilities, playgrounds etc., with adequate manpower. This will help in increasing the accessibility to sports facilities, increased participation in sports and ensure long-term sustainability of physical education schemes.
Nurturing Talent and Flexible Educational Pathways
The NSP should consider implementation of scouting initiatives in schools to spot emerging talent. There should be a focus on linking the NSP’s athlete database to educational institutions, creating avenues for young athletes to access scholarships, mentorships, and focused training. Establishment of regional talent development centres affiliated with local schools will enable promising young athletes to simultaneously pursue sports training and academics.
Additionally, the NSP should advocate for flexible schedules for student-athletes, which will allow them to balance their sports commitments with academic progress. To align with NEP’s flexibility in curricular design, introduction of a credit system — where students can earn academic credits for physical education and sports achievements — will help in strengthening the nexus between NSP and NEP.
Comprehensive Monitoring and Stakeholder Engagement
The NSP encourages increased participation from government bodies, educational institutions and sports organisations to achieve the objectives of NSP and creation of a sustainable framework for integrating sports into the educational landscape. While this is a move in the positive direction, a framework to evaluate the impact of integrated sports programmes, and ongoing monitoring and data collection involving establishment of a centralised tracking system for athletes’ performance and well-being (alongside regular impact assessments that measure physical, mental and academic outcomes) must be included in the policy.
The integration of NSP and NEP is more than a policy initiative. It is a blueprint for building a balanced, healthy, and inclusive society. By bringing sports into the educational mainstream, the policies are poised to redefine the aspirations of young athletes, offering them the skills, discipline, and resilience needed in today’s competitive world. By embedding sports and physical activities into educational curriculum, institutions can foster holistic development amongst students, and can serve as vital talent feeders for competitive sports. The alignment of the NSP with the NEP reflects the nation’s commitment towards holistic education, emphasising the importance of physical wellness alongside intellectual growth.
The writer is a Partner in GameChanger Law Advisors
Thanks to Janhavi Kukreja, Associate, GameChanger Law Advisors, for her assistance in crafting this article
Also Read: GameChanger Law Advisors Partners with RevSportz to Honor Indian Paralympians