The meeting was attended by Secretary level officers from the state governments pan India. Minister Shri Anurag Singh Thakur in his address said, “Our collective goal is to shape the future of youth engagement and sports in our nation. The role of Department of Youth Affairs is crucial to engage with the youth and create a roadmap to onboard them at different levels.”

A key agenda was the restructuring of the National Youth Festival (NYF). The focus was on information dissemination mechanisms and improving outreach by on boarding Youth on the YUVA Portal. States/ UTs showcased presentations on Restructuring of National Youth Festival (NYF) on allotted themes related to Youth as Job Creators, Ek Bharat Sreshtha Bharat, Improving Millets production through Science/ Science for Society, Health and Fitness and Mission LiFE, which was followed by an Open House Discussion.

The Meeting further discussed the potential use of the YUVA Portal for engaging Youth. The platform has already registered an impressive 11.70 lakh youth, on boarded 921 businesses, and established 7269 Youth Clubs. An insightful presentation on Experiential Learning Program for youth in Business and Police Department was made by the Department of Youth Affairs. Many state governments said they would be happy to onboard Youth for the experiential learning programme since it would improve youth employability.

The meeting also included presentations on the importance of adventure sports for youth engagement, mental and physical development and strengthening discipline among youth. A presentation was made by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation.

It was followed by the sessions for development of sports where various key agendas were discussed where the States have a vital role to play. One of the key topics that were deliberated on is the the development of sports infrastructure in the States under the Khelo India Scheme, their progress and geotagging of all sports infrastructure in the state under the PM Gati Shakti Mission through a dedicated mobile application.

Various verticals of the Khelo India Scheme were presented about. This includes establishment of Khelo India Centres at the District level with 1000 Khelo India Centres designated and the establishment of Khelo India State Centre of Excellence with significant importance given to training of past champion athletes, robust monitoring and evaluation mechanism, etc.

Various initiatives carried out under the FIT India mission was a significant agenda that was deliberated on. This includes the FIT India Quiz, the biggest national level quiz on sports and fitness with participation of more than 61,000 students, FIT India School week where various activities are carried out at school-level and the FIT India mobile app and its significance.

The presentation included the Khelo India ASMITA, the marquee women’s sports leagues that are organized at zonal and national level were organized in 120 Cities in 27 States.

The States were requested to support in increasing the outreach and the effective execution of the Khelo India Scheme.

In the beginning, Secretary (Youth Affairs) welcomed all those present and highlighted the use of the YUVA Portal for anchoring the Meri Maati Mera Desh Programme in a successful manner.