Patna: In a concerted push to identify and nurture young sporting talent, the Bihar government is set to launch the school-level phase of “Mashaal-2024,” the country’s largest sports talent search programme. A torch competition is scheduled to take place across schools in the state from April 25 to 27, according to decisions taken at a high-level meeting held at the Patliputra Sports Complex on Friday.
The event, aimed at promoting grassroots sports, was jointly reviewed by top officials including Dr B Rajendra, Additional Chief Secretary of the Sports Department, Ajay Yadav, Secretary of the Education Department, Ravindran Shankaran, Director General of the Bihar School Sports Authority (BSSA), and Mahendra Kumar, Director of the Sports Department. District Education Officers (DEOs) and District Programme Officers (DPOs) from across Bihar also attended the meeting via video conferencing.
In an effort to balance academics and sports, it was decided that the quarterly exams for students will be conducted only after April 27. Officials emphasised that participation in the torch competition will be mandatory for all schools, reinforcing the state’s commitment to integrating sports into the educational framework.
CRC-Level Competitions from May
Following the torch events, sports competitions will continue at the Complex Resource Centre (CRC) level from May 19. Each CRC will host athletes from a cluster of schools within the block, with 77 students representing each school. A designated school in each cluster will be responsible for organising the event, guided by standard operating procedures issued by the department.
Portal Updates and Player Transfers
To streamline participation, the Mashaal portal will reopen at 11 am on April 20. allowing school officials to add or remove names of Class 8 and 10 students as needed. Additionally, battery fitness tests—a key part of the talent evaluation—must be completed at the school level, with data to be uploaded to the portal.
So far, over 15.6 lakh students have registered on the Mashaal portal, with physical fitness test results uploaded for nearly 4 lakh participants.
Laying the Groundwork for Future Champions
The Mashaal initiative, through its ambitious scale and detailed planning, seeks to discover and cultivate the next generation of athletes who can represent Bihar at national and international levels. Officials say the programme marks a significant step toward embedding sports into the educational ethos of the state and building a robust sports infrastructure at the grassroots.
