Bharatiya Games is taking steps to make traditional sports from India more widely available in schools.

The Indian Knowledge System department of the Education Ministry is rolling out the initial Bharatiya Games project in schools all across India. As a part of this initiative, each school will have to assign a physical education instructor to supervise the production of annual and monthly training regimens for the students. Furthermore, the physical education teacher will need to keep track of the students’ progress in various traditional games.

The main goal of this initiative is to make sure that students living in rural areas with limited sports facilities are included. It will start with 1,000 schools across the country, which will increase over time. IKS has collaborated with the Sports Authority of India and various other state-level sports authorities for this purpose. The first phase will include 12 outdoor games like Lagori (Pittu), Nondi, Nadee Parvat, Jod Saakli, Nalugu Rallu Atta, Cheel Jhapatta, Vish-Amrit, Gilli Danda, Gella Chatt, Atya Paty, Kabaddi, and Pacha Kuthirai.

Ganti S Murthy, national coordinator of IKS, told Education Times that the motivation behind introducing traditional Indian games in schools is to make sure everyone, particularly those from rural parts of the country, can participate in sports, regardless of their economic status. Without adequate sports facilities in rural areas, students living there are unable to play and cultivate a sporting mindset.

The students can gain knowledge and become experienced in traditional Indian sports without having to have costly infrastructure first. This would help create a comprehensive sports system in the nation. Physical education instructors in the schools would take part in this national effort. Each month, the students will be instructed in one native game by their physical education instructors and the instructors will be given the vital tools to teach these games to their pupils. The top-performing schools will be acknowledged each month.

Murthy further states that most of the current games tend to be highly competitive and individualistic, rather than encouraging teamwork and togetherness. However, Indian games promote collaboration, companionship, and team collaboration.

Goswami, who specializes in Indian traditional games, stated that this endeavor will begin by testing a small number of schools. After that, it will be expanded to more institutions throughout India. The IKS department is working in conjunction with the Sports Authority of India, as well as other state sports authorities, in order to ensure the success of this initiative. The IKS division has already reached out to the Pittu Federation of India, and it is hoped that ten more such federations will come into existence in the next five years.