Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has unveiled India's ambitious plans to host the 2036 Olympics and become a top sporting nation, alongside reporting substantial growth in employment and social security coverage over the last decade.
Key Points
- Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya presented a report on India's progress in sports and employment to NDA MPs.
- India is actively pursuing a bid to host the 2036 Olympic Games and aims to be a top-five sporting nation by 2047.
- The minister highlighted a significant increase in India's Olympic medal tally in recent editions compared to previous decades.
- Between 2014 and 2024, 17.1 crore additional jobs were created, with youth employability rising by 66 per cent.
- Social security coverage expanded dramatically from 25 crore beneficiaries in 2015 to over 101 crore by 2026.
Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, who also holds the portfolio of Labour and Employment, presented a report card of his two ministeries at a recent meeting of the NDA MPs, highlighting the efforts to bring the 2036 Olympics to India and the growth in employment over the last 12 years.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah in attendance, Mandaviya started with sports and then listed the progress made in the Labour and Employments ministry, drawing applause at the mention of major milestones.
India's Ambitious Olympic Vision
"He mentioned that earlier the idea was to land a job through sports. The long-term vision was missing. He also spoke about how important it is to prioritise sports science to move ahead in the medal tally in international events," a well-placed source said referring to the minister's stated position on the issue of sports as a stepping stone for employment.
"We have to host the 2036 Olympics. We have to be in the top 10 of medal winners. We have to be in top five sporting nations by 2047," he added.
Mandaviya said India's medal tally in the Olympic Games, which was a total of 21 across the Games held between 1948 and 2012, was 15 in just the last three editions.
"He also highlighted India's outstanding Commonwealth Games performance, where despite the reduced number of medal events, India finished fourth with a tally of 39 medals including historic performances in boxing, athletics and judo."
Significant Strides In Employment And Social Security
In a more elaborate briefing on Labour and Employment, Mandaviya stated that "17.1 crore additional jobs were created between 2014 and 2024, alongside a 66 per cent rise in youth employability."
"The social security coverage also grew from 25 crore in 2015 to over 101 crore beneficiaries in 2026."
