The ministry of youth affairs and sports is set to launch a Rs 15 billion sport promotion programme for rural youth.
"Panchayat Yuva Krida Aur Khel Abhiyan (PYKKA) is a nation-wide scheme that aims to improve rural sports infrastructure and organise sports competitions," Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Mani Shankar Aiyar said here on Monday.

Under the scheme, each village panchayat and each block panchayat would be given one-time seed capital grant of Rs 100,000 and Rs 500,000, respectively.

Aiyar, who also holds the charge of the Panchayati Raj ministry, said the scheme would be launched April 1.
It will fall in the centrally sponsored scheme (CSS) category and the onus of implementing it will lie with the state concerned. The state share will be 25 percent for financially well-off states and 10 percent for the rest.

Rs 5000 crore demand
"We had demanded Rs 5,000 crore (Rs50 billion) from the government for this but for the moment Rs1,500 crore (Rs15 billion) have been sanctioned. After two years a review of the scheme will be undertaken," Aiyar stated.
He said the comprehensive scheme would bear fruit in 10 years.

"NGOs like Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan and other youth groups would be involved to make the program a success and give a qualitative fillip to it," Aiyar said.

Less than 30 million of the 210 million students in the country have access to organised sporting activities. "It is the most comprehensive endeavour ever taken to reach the youth of India," an optimistic Aiyar said.

Aiyar has always backed supporting sport at the lower level while openly critcising Indian Olympic Association’s plans to bid for mega events.