New Delhi: The 1st National Level Sports Meet for the students of Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) was inaugurated yesterday by Shri Jaswantsinh Sumanbhai Bhabhor, Minister of State for Tribal Affairs at G.M.C Balayogi Stadium, Gachibowli, Hyderabad in the presence of Dr. Benhur Mahesh Dutt Ekka, Secretary, Tribal Welfare, Dr Christina Z Chongthu, Commissioner, Tribal Welfare, Govt of Telangana, Dr. R. S. Praveen Kumar, IPS, Secretary, Telangana Tribal Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society, Hyderabad and Shri. A.Venkateshwar Reddy, Chairman, Sports Authority of Telangana besides senior. Officials of Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Govt. of India.
In his inaugural address, Shri. Bhabhor expressed the commitment of Government of India and Ministry of Tribal Affairs to ensure upliftment of tribal population in India, which is reflected in manifold increase in the quantum of resources allocated not just for the Ministry but also for the Scheduled Tribe Component (earlier known as Tribal Sub Plan) of other Central Ministries. He also shared that Government in a historic decision has decided to establish EMRS in every block with more than 50% or more tribal population and 20,000 or more tribal persons by the year 2022 thereby around 462 schools will be set up in addition to the 288 EMRSs already sanctioned.
The inaugural ceremony saw a scintillating march past by the participants from all the States followed by a high decibel cultural performance by the students of various tribal welfare residential schools of Telangana.
The Minister also launched an app ‘EMRS Sports Meet’ dedicated on the occasion. The event has a participation of 1777 students comprising of 975 boys and 802 girls representing 20 States of the country. The three day event till Jan.16, 2019 will have competitions in 13 different disciplines of track and field that includes Hockey, Wrestling, Football, Archery, Volley Ball, Kabaddi, Handball, Kho Kho and Athletics.
The valedictory ceremony on 16.01.19 will be graced by Shri. Jual Oram, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, Shri. Sudarshan Bhagat, Minister of State for Tribal Affairs, and Shri. Deepak Khandekar, Secretary, Tribal Affairs will also be present.
The scheme of Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRSs) is one of the flagship intervention of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India introduced in the year 1997-98 to ensure tribal students get access to quality education in the remote tribal areas.
