PHYSICAL EDUCATION, GAMES, SPORTS AND YOUTH WELFARE
A. PHYSICAL EDUCATION The main object of the schemes in this field is to consolidate and extend the programme initiated in the earlier Plans.
2. Lakshmibai College of Physical Education, Gwalior.-The College has made considerable progress during the year. 28 students were sent up for the Bachelor of Physical Education (Final) Examination (1963) of the Vikram University. 26 students were declared successful.
2.2. The College introduced for the first time in India a 2-year course for the Postgraduate Master's Degree in Physical Education.
2.3. For the 1963 session, 62 students were admitted to the first year of the 3-year degree course. 10 students were admitted to the master's degree course.
2.4. The administrative approval of the Union Government has been accorded to the construction of the administrative block-cum-college building at an estimated cost of Rs. 13 lakh. The building is likely to be completed by the end of 1964.
3. National Physical Efficiency Drive.-During 1963-64, the National Physical Efficiency Drive was organised all over the country in November, 1963. Over 3,500 testing centres were set up and more than 6 lakh persons got themselves registered for the competition. The Third All-India Competition for the National Awards in Physical Efficiency is expected to be held at Patiala in February, 1964.
4. Grants-in-Aid to Private Physical Education Training Institutions.Grants to the tune of Rs. 3,20,000 were sanctioned to eight institutions during the year for the construction of gymnasia. Construction work on these projects made good progress. 7 out of the 8 gymnasia sanctioned, are expected to be ready by mid-1964. Proposals for financial assistance have been invited from the training institutions for the construction of hostels/ administrative blocks.
5. Promotion of Research in Special Branches of Physical Education including Yoga.-The Scheme consists of three main items as given in the paragraphs that follow.
5.2. Promotion of Yoga : The Kaivalayadham Shreeman Madhava, Yoga Mandir Samiti, Lonavla, received Rs. 76,131 as assistance from the Union Government on a cover-the-deficit basis for its Scientific Research and Philosophico-Literary Research Departments.
5.3. Preparation of Popular Literature : 7 out of the 15 manuscripts of the introductory pamphlets on selected games for use in educational institutions were received and these are being scrutinised and edited. A scheme has also been formulated for assistance to journals on physical education,
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health education and recreation. Proposals for assistance have been invited from the States/universities/colleges etc.
5.4. Promotion of Research in Physical Education : On the basis of the recommendations of the Research Sub-Committee of the Central Advisory Board of Physical Education and Recreation, 9 research projects have been approved for assistance. The pattern of assistance provides for hundred per cent grant in these cases.
6. Central Advisory Board of Physical Education and Recreation.-The Central Advisory Board of Physical Education and Recreation, was last reconstituted in 1961 and made more broad-based by including in it inter alia a representative each of all the States. The Board set up 3 new Regional visiting Committees to make an on-the- spot assessment of the training programmes of the physical education training institutions not yet recognised by the Union Government and to make recommendations for the recognition of their diploma certificate courses and also for the improvement and development of their training facilities.
6.2. Another sub-committee was set up to examine certain issues. pertaining to the implementation of the "Integrated Programme" of the Emergency Scheme of Physical Education and National Discipline.
B. EMERGENCY SCHEME OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND NATIONAL
DISCIPLINE
7. The Integrated Scheme of Physical Education and National Discipline has been generally well received by the State Governments. Since the Integrated Scheme embraces the salient features of physical education, national discipline and also the A.C.C., a special three- month re-orientation course has been prescribed for physical education teachers in order to enable them to implement the Scheme. Over 3,000 physical education teachers received this short-term training during the year at the training centres at Indore, Panchkula, Amravati, Mahabaleshwar, Jubbal and Meerut. The target is to train all the 15,000 physical education teachers in the country by the end of the third Five-Year Plan and for this purpose it is proposed to open more training centres. The emphasis during the training course is on activities which the physical education teachers do not cover in their professional training.
7.2. It was suggested to the State Governments to earmark five periods per week per class for instruction in the Integrated Scheme to the school children in the age-group of 9 to 16. Separate activities have been prescribed for the students of different age-groups. The salient features of the Integrated Scheme are :
(1) Physical Education
(2) Drill and Marching
(3) Lezim
(4) Games and Relays
(5) Track and Field Events
(6) Gymnastics (for Boys), Folk Dances (for Girls)
(7) Combatives
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(8) Hiking and Cross Country
(9) Instruction and Practice in Tests
(10) Field Crafts (for Boys), Home Nursing (for Girls)
(11) General Information, Practical Projects and Community Singing
7.3. The Scheme is entirely financed by the Union Government. By the end of the year, about 3,000 schools and over 15 lakh students had been covered under the Scheme since its inception. This excludes the coverage through the in-service physical education teachers. The total expenditure incurred on the Scheme during 1963-64 was Rs. 70 lakh. During 1964-65 when the re-orientation training of the in- service personnel gets accelerated, the coverage under the Scheme in terms of schools as well as students is likely to be further extended.
C. BHARAT SCOUTS AND GUIDES 8. The Government continued to extend financial assistance to the Bharat Scouts and Guides for their various activities. Grants to the extent of Rs. 21,534 have been released for the purpose in 1963- 64.
D. LABOUR AND SOCIAL SERVICE SCHEME 9. This Scheme has been in operation from the fourth year of the first Five-Year Plan. It is divided into two parts : (1) Labour and Social Service Camps; and (2) Campus Work Projects.
10. Labour and Social Service Camps.-The object of such camps is to inculcate a sense of dignity of manual labour among students and other youths and to give them an opportunity of coming into contact with village life, and participating in works of community development. Each camper is expected to put in about four hours of shramdan daily in a camp lasting 10 to 30 days. Minor projects like repairs and construction of roads and bunds, digging of soak pits, compost pits. and pits for tree plantation, construction and improvement of villages and school playgrounds, and sanitation drives are undertaken in the camps. The scheme is operated through the agencies of universities, State Governments, the N.C.C. Directorate and voluntary organisations of all-India status like the Bharat Sevak Samaj, Bharat Scouts and Guides and the Y.M.C.A.
10.2. Out of a total budget provision of Rs. 8 lakh for 1963- 64, a sum of Rs. 5.25 lakh was sanctioned to various agencies for holding 339 labour and social service camps during the period 1st April, 1963 to 5th January, 1964.
10.3. The recommendations of the Committee for the coordination of various schemes in the field of physical education, youth welfare etc. headed by Pandit H. N. Kunzru have been received in this regard and are being exammed in conjunction with the report of the Asoka Mehta Committee that was set up in June, 1962 to evaluate the programme of Labour and Social Service Camps.
10.4. Campus Work Projects : The purpose of this scheme is to provide amenities like recreation halls-cum-auditoria, swimming pools, gymnasia, open-air theatres, pavilions, small stadia and cinder tracks in educational institutions. One of the conditions of grant for the purpose is that the staff
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and students of the beneficiary educational institution should offer skilled and unskilled labour on the project in addition to contributing 25 per cent or more of the actual expenditure on the project. The grants are paid in three or four instalments, depending upon the progress of construction work. Out of a budget provision of Rs. 10 lakh, a sum of Rs. 7.72 lakh was sanctioned for 90 continuing projects during the period between 1st April, 1963 and 5th January, 1964.
10.5. Owing to the national emergency and shortage of building materials, it was decided not to invite applications for fresh projects during 1962-63 and 1963-64. It has since been decided to remove the ban and to invite applications for fresh projects during 1964-65. A budget provision for Rs. 20 lakh has been made for the continuing projects as well as for fresh projects for the next financial year.
E. SPORTS AND GAMES 11. Financial Assistance for the Promotion of Sports and Games.- Financial assistance to the extent of Rs. 3,73,526 was extended during 1963-64 to national sports federations to enable them to send Indian teams abroad and to invite foreign teams to India. to hold national championships, training camps, pre-Olympic matches, to purchase sports equipment, to pay salaries of paid assistant secretaries and the like other purposes. Among the events for which assistance/permission was given to the national federations, the following deserve special mention :
(1) The International Lawn Tennis Championship of Asia held at Calcutta
(2) The World Table Tennis Championship held at Prague
(3) The Fifth Asian Youth Football Tournament at Penang
(4) The World Snooker Championship held at Calcutta
(5) The World Senior Golf Championship held in the USA
(6) The International Hockey Tournament held at Lyons
(7 ) The Pre-Olympic Asian Zone Volleyball Tournament held at New Delhi
(8) The Pre-Olympic Rifle Shooting Competitions held at Tokyo
(9) The Pre-Olympic Boxing Competitions held at Tokyo
(10) The Pre-Olympic Football Tournament held in Ceylon and India
(11) The British Hockey Team's Tour of India
(12) The M.C.C. Team's Tour of India
(13) The International Davis Cup Lawn Tennis match between the USA and India played in India
12. Construction of Stadia.-The Government continued giving financial assistance to State Governments for the construction of `Utility Stadia'. Grants amounting to Rs. 55,000 have been released in 1963-64, till the end of December, 1963.
13. All India Council of Sports.-An advisory body called the All India Council of Sports was established in 1954, to advise the Government in all matters relating to the promotion of sports and games in the country. The Council consists of 15 members nominated by the Government and its term of office is two years. It can co-opt two members distinguished in
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sports. The present Council, which was nominated on 16th July, 1963 under the chairmanship of H.H. the Maharaja of Patiala, has held two meetings in 1963. The other functions of the Council are to act as liaison between sports federations and the Government and to recommend cases to the Union Government for assistance to sports organisations.
14. National Institute of Sports.-The Institute is administered by an eleven-member autonomous Board of Governors, nominated by the Government of India with one member nominated by the All India Council of Sports. The term of the first Board expired on 12th May, 1963, and the Board was reconstituted on 25th July, 1963, with Mr. M. R. Krishna, Parliamentary Secretary to the Union Minister of Education as its chairman. An account of the various aspects of the Institute's activities is given in the paragraphs that follow.
14.2. Coaches : At present the Institute receives the services of foreign coaches for some games/sports as given below :
(1) Mr. H. E. Wright, U.K.-Football
(2) Mr. Amir Hamidi, Iran-Wrestling.
(3) Mr. K. O. Petrov, USSR-Volleyball
(4) Mr. N. Takaishvili, USSR--Gymnastics.
(5) Mr. Ivan Andreades, Czechoslovakia-Table Tennis
(6) Mr. Lauro G. Mumar, Philippines-Basketball,
(7) Mr. Chan Kon Leong, Malaya-Badminton.
(8) Mr. J. Kovaes, Hungary-Athletics
(9) Dr. Otto Demjen, Hungary-Swimming
The foreign coaches will be replaced by Indian nationals as soon as possible. The following games/sports are already in the charge of Indian coaches at the Institute :
(1) Tennis-Mr. Ranbir Singh
(2) Hockey-Major Dhyan Chand
(3) Cricket-Mr. N. D. Marshall
In other games suitable understudies have been attached to the foreign coaches. At the moment the Institute has 93 coaches who are working in the field. Most of them are attached to various State sports councils all over India.
14.3. Courses : One-year courses in athletics, badminton, cricket, football, gymnastics, hockey, tennis, volleyball and wrestling were started on 1st August, 1963 and will be completed at the end of April, 1964. The number of trainees receiving training under these courses is 98.
14.4. Three ad hoc courses were organised during 1963 as below :
Number of Trai-
Ad hoc Course Duration nees Trained/
Receiving Train-
ing
Swimming 1-4-1963 to 31-10-1963 15
Table Tennis 6-8-1963 to 29-2-1964 12
Basketball 5-9-1963 to 29-2-1964 17
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14.5. In 1964 it is contemplated to start regular courses each of three years' duration for (a) athletics (b) gymnastics, and (c) swimming.
14.6. Regional Coaching Centres : All State sports councils were requested to establish as many regional coaching centres as possible. An incentive has been offered in the shape of supplying these regional coaching centres with 50 per cent coaches on the NIS pay-rolls, provided the State councils themselves engage from their own funds a matching number of coaches qualifying from the NIS.
14.7. Foreign Interests : A hockey coach trained in the National Institute of Sports has been sent to Afghanistan. Uganda has sent one of its hockey players for a hockey course at the Institute.
14.8. Coaching for International Events : The National Institute of Sports has offered to give to national sports federations/associations all facilities for training their teams going abroad or participating in international events held in India.
14.9. Government Grants : Grants amounting to Rs. 10 lakh were placed at the disposal of the Director of the National Institute of Sports for meeting the day-to-day expenses of the Institute and its Coaching Wing in the year under report.
F.YOUTH WELFARE 15. Students Tours.-Under this scheme, students of the. age- group 1524 are given assistance to meet rail/bus fare at students' concession rates subject to a maximum of Rs. 60 per student to enable them to undertake educational tours to places of cultural, historical or educational interest. During the year this scheme was not operative as a result of the withdrawal of travel concessions by the Railway authorities due to national emergency. The scheme will, however, be implemented during 1964-65 for which a provision of Rs. 3 lakh has been made.
16. Youth Hostels.-With the establishment of the Central Committee on Youth Hostels, the scheme was in the process of being revised. No new proposals for the grant of any financial assistance to any organisation/ institution for the construction of youth hostel is being considered. An altogether new scheme is being worked out.
17. Youth Welfare Boards and Committees.-Receiving grants under the scheme, 13 universities have set up youth welfare committees to look after the welfare activities for university youths. A sum of Rs. 12,000 was sanctioned to different universities during the year.
18. Youth Leadership and Dramatic Training Camps.-These camps are designed to impart short-term training to college/university teachers in the organisation of youth welfare programmes. Financial assistance is also given to individual universities for the conduct of similar camps to the extent of 75 per cent of the expenditure on admissible items subject to a maximum of Rs. 3,000 for each camp. This part of the scheme could not, however, be implemented during 1963-64 due to national emergency.
19. Youth Festivals.-Started in 1954, the Inter-University Youth Festival, which has become an annual event has justified its utility by providing a common meeting place for young men and women from different univer-
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sities and by helping the process of their emotional integration. The students are, offered opportunities of creative expression through discussion and debates on topics of national and educational interest, through cultural activities like dance, drama, music and art and also through sport activities.
19.2. The 8th Inter-University Youth Festival was held in 1963 from 11th to 18th November, 1963 at the Talkatora Gardens, New Delhi. Thirtysix universities with 645 participants participated in this festival. The Ministry, as usual, met the entire expenditure on the festival.
19.3. Grants are also given to universities for organising similar festivals and the amounts thus given meet 50 per cent of the expenditure incurred subject to a maximum of Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 1,000 for the affiliated and residential universities respectively.
G. BAL BHAVAN AND NATIONAL CHILDREN'S MUSEUM 20. The Bal Bhavan and National Children's, Museum, an autonomous organisation financed by the Government of India provides for the recreational and educational needs of the children of Delhi. According to a planned programme, about 400 to 450 children visit this institution daily and participate in various activities like dance, drama, music, clay-modelling, painting etc. During 1963-64, the National Children's Museum organised (1) an exhibition on Mohinjadaro and Harappa, (2) a book fair sponsored jointly by the United States Information Service and the Bal Bhavan and National Children's Museum, and (3) a children's art carnival. Bombay, Madras, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Ahmedabad are included in the itinerary of the Carnival. An amount of Rs. 2.02 lakh was spent on this institution during the year.
H.FINANCIAL PROVISIONS 21. The following financial provisions have been made for the schemes of physical education, games and sports, youth welfare, etc., mentioned in this chapter :
Provision for 1963-64 Provision
Sl. Scheme for
No. Original Revised 1964-65
1 2 3 4 5
Rs. Rs. Rs.
1 Lakshmibai College for
Physical Education,
Gwalior 9,00,000 8,00,000 13,50,000
2 National Physical Efficiency
Drive 2,00,000 2,62,000 3,50,000
3 Grants-in-aid to Private Phy-
sical Education Training
Institutions 4,00,000 4,00,000 5,00,000
4 Promotion of Research in
Special Branches of Physi-
cal Education including
Yoga 2,85,000 2,50,000 2,32,000
5 Popularisation of Syllabi of
Physical Education and
Health Education 10,000 - -
6 Seminars on Physical Edu-
cation 5,000 15,000 10,000