BuzzBytes
New Delhi, March 2: In a major push to promote women’s participation in sports, Minister of State for Sports Raksha Khadse on Monday announced a nationwide athletics league under the ASMITA (Achieving Sports Milestone by Inspiring Women Through Action) programme to mark International Women’s Day on March 8.
The initiative, spearheaded by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, will host athletics competitions simultaneously at 250 locations across India, with an estimated 2.5 lakh women expected to participate in a single day.
Addressing a media conference at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi, Khadse said the league aims to integrate young women across the country and strengthen grassroots sports participation through the rapidly expanding ASMITA platform.
In the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, four centres will host athletics events. Kargil will represent Ladakh, while Rajouri, Srinagar and Udhampur will conduct competitions in Jammu & Kashmir. The events will feature track competitions — 100m, 200m and 400m races — across three age categories: Under-13, 13–18, and 18 and above.
ASMITA, launched in 2021 under the Khelo India mission, focuses on increasing women’s participation in competitive sports and identifying emerging talent nationwide. The programme is supported by the Sports Authority of India and national sports federations, which organise leagues across age groups at zonal and national levels.
According to official data, more than 2,600 ASMITA leagues have been conducted across 34 sports disciplines in over 550 districts and 700 cities. Participation has crossed 3 lakh women, with events reaching remote regions including Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and areas once affected by Naxalism.
Khadse said the initiative reflects the government’s vision of encouraging girls from villages and small towns to pursue sports professionally, in line with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The minister also linked the initiative to India’s long-term sporting goals, including preparations for the 2030 Commonwealth Games and the country’s ambition to host the 2036 Olympic Games. She stressed that hosting global sporting events requires trained officials, administrative capacity and strong grassroots sporting culture beginning at the district level.
Each venue will deploy technical officials, volunteers, a competition manager, a past champion athlete mentor and district youth officers. Events will also include developmental workshops, officiating training aligned with Athletics Federation of India norms, and digital competition documentation training to strengthen capacity building.
The programme will be implemented in collaboration with MY Bharat, Khelo India Centres, the SAI ecosystem, National Centres of Excellence, and state and district sports bodies across more than 30 states and Union Territories.
Officials said the initiative represents one of the largest single-day women’s sports participation drives in the country, combining competition, training and talent identification while strengthening India’s sports ecosystem at the grassroots level.
