New Delhi: In a landmark initiative to celebrate women in sports, Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, Raksha Khadse, on Monday announced a massive 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 league will be organised at 250 locations across the country under the aegis of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
In the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, four centres will host athletics events. While Kargil in Ladakh will stage the special ASMITA League, Rajouri, Srinagar, and Udhampur will join the International Women’s Day celebrations in J&K.
“There can’t be a better opportunity to integrate our young women across the nation, and what better tool than the ASMITA platform, which is already gaining popularity across the country,” Khadse said at a media conference held at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium.
ASMITA is part of the Khelo India initiative’s gender-inclusive mission to promote women’s participation in sports through structured leagues and competitions. The Sports Authority of India (SAI) supports National Sports Federations in conducting Khelo India women’s leagues across multiple age groups at zonal and national levels.
Launched in 2021, the ASMITA leagues aim not only to boost women’s participation in sports but also to serve as a platform for identifying emerging talent across the country.
So far, more than 2,600 leagues have been conducted across 34 sports disciplines in over 550 districts and 700 cities.
The initiative has reached remote regions, including Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram, and has also been organised in areas once affected by Left-wing extremism. Over 3,00,000 women have participated in the programme to date.
On March 8, events will focus on athletics competitions — 100m, 200m and 400m races — across three age categories: Under-13, 13–18 years, and 18+ years. Each venue will deploy five technical officials, ten volunteers, one competition manager, one Past Champion Athlete (PCA), and a District Youth Officer. A record participation of nearly 2.5 lakh women is expected on a single day to mark International Women’s Day.
The initiative will be implemented in collaboration with MY Bharat, Khelo India Centres (KICs), the SAI ecosystem and National Centres of Excellence (NCOEs), along with State and District Sports Associations and District Youth Officers.
“The League will be organised in more than 30 States and Union Territories, including the North-East. The objective is to encourage more girls in villages and small towns to take up sports as a career, as envisioned by our Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Khadse said.
As India prepares for the 2030 Commonwealth Games and pursues its ambition to host the 2036 Olympic Games, Khadse emphasised the importance of grassroots readiness.
“We must understand that readiness begins at the district level. Hosting the Olympic Games requires more than infrastructure. It demands trained human resources, certified technical officials, and administrative excellence in every district. This International Women’s Day initiative is part of that preparation,” she said.
Each athletics event will also feature women technical officials, developmental workshops, training aligned with the officiating norms of the Athletics Federation of India, as well as digital data upload and competition documentation training to ensure capacity building nationwide.
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