Sports is a State subject, yet Union schemes shape the national sports ecosystem. Discuss the cooperative-federalism model evident in multi-sport events like the Khelo India Youth Games.

Sports is Entry 33 of the State List, so the Union cannot make laws on it directly. It shapes the ecosystem through schemes and policy instead, mainly the Khelo India scheme and Khelo Bharat Niti 2025 [1][2]. The Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG) show cooperative federalism at work.

How the Union shapes a State subject

• Fiscal lever: Khelo India merged the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan, the Urban Sports Infrastructure Scheme and the National Sports Talent Search Scheme into one centrally funded scheme [1].
• Policy lever: Khelo Bharat Niti 2025 sets national goals, from grassroots participation to links with NEP 2020 [2].
• Institutional lever: the Sports Authority of India (SAI) implements the scheme, and its DG is also Secretary, Department of Sports [3].

Cooperative federalism in the KIYG

• Joint ownership: the Union Sports Minister and the Telangana CM jointly unveiled the logo and the mascot "Neelamani" for the 8th KIYG (December 2026) [3].
• Rotating hosts: venues are spread across six cities, including Khammam and Nizamabad, which brings tier-2 infrastructure to the host state [3].
• Cultural space for states: the host state's Karra Samu is a demonstration sport. It sits alongside indigenous competitive sports such as Gatka, Kalaripayattu and Thang-Ta [3].
• Shared social goals: the Games promote "Nasha Mukt Yuva for Viksit Bharat", which links Union priorities to state youth programmes [3].

Strains in the model

• Uneven fiscal flow: the 2019 Standing Committee found that only 13 states had received infrastructure grants, and Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha had received none. Only ₹324 crore of ₹520 crore was spent in 2018-19 [4].
• Capacity gaps: about 45% of SAI's sanctioned posts were vacant, and some National Centres of Excellence were not working [5].
• Scheme dependence: the Committee noted that Khelo India was set to run only until March 2026. It recommended bringing the scheme into SAI's structure and examining a statutory SAI with its own cadre [5].

The KIYG show that the Union and the states can work together on a State subject: the Centre provides funds and direction, and the states provide venues and cultural identity. To strengthen this, the Union could give need-based grants to weaker states, the Union and host states could jointly plan venue upkeep after the Games, and SAI could get a permanent statutory cadre, as the Committee suggested [5]. That would make sport a shared national mission, in the spirit of "Sports for Nation Building" [2].