Across India, the ASMITA (Achieving Sports Milestone by Inspiring Women Through Action) initiative is sparking a powerful transformation by expanding opportunities for women and girls to participate, compete and succeed in sport.
- Nationwide leagues are providing a platform for expression and breaking stereotypes
- Reservation in coaching admissions aimed at lifting capacity building for women in sports
Saloni Dhaniya hails from Roorkee, Haridwar in Uttarakhand. On her pursuit to be the first female athlete from the state to represent the Indian national team, Saloni’s journey has been far from normal. Her father is an e-rickshaw driver, while her mother runs a humble tea stall, where Saloni works in the evenings. Her grit to be able to play and have a shot at the Indian team has come at the back of sacrifices made by her family, including loans and mustering money to afford basic sport gear.
Saloni was a part of the 14-member squad selected for the Asia Rugby Under-18 championships in 2023 (Chinese Taipei). Since then, Saloni has remained a part of the Indian national high-performance ecosystem. A product of the ASMITA ecosystem, Saloni’s life story is a telling reflection of what women are capable of in sports given the opportunity to rise and shine. And she is not the only one.
As we celebrate International Women’s Day across the world, it is time to ponder how the world of women’s sport is undergoing a game-changing transformation. In keeping with the Olympic Charter that outlines the push for gender neutrality, ASMITA’s role in realizing PM Narendra Modi’s ambition of a Viksit Bharat by 2047 can only be overemphasized.
The sports ministry’s push for securing gender neutrality in the sports ecosystem gave birth to the mission Sports for Women. A vertical of the Khelo India Mission, ASMITA (Achieving Sports Milestone by Inspiring Women Through Action) was conceived to promote sports among women through leagues and competition. As such, the Sports Authority of India collaborated with National Sports Federations to conduct Khelo India women’s leagues across multiple age groups at both zonal and national levels.
Started in 2021, ASMITA leagues not only aimed to increase the participation of women in sports but also to utilise the leagues as a platform for identification of new talent across the length and breadth of India. So far, more than 2600 leagues have been conducted across 34 sports disciplines in over 550 districts and 700 cities in the country.
Significantly, ASMITA has reached the farthest corners of the country, like Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram in the North-east. It has also been held in areas that were once tormented by Naxalism. More than 300,000 women have taken part.
Does ASMITA only aim at sports development? Not quite. It has a far greater objective than just spotting and grooming sportswomen of merit. ASMITA targets to ride sports as a tool for societal development and change. It has been seen that girls who play sports develop self-esteem, confidence, resilience, and learn to work in teams. They tend to stay in school longer, delay pregnancy, and get better jobs.
Watch Indian Live Scores and Play Quiz – Download IndiaSportsHub App
Research by the United Nations shows that 80 per cent of female Fortune 500 CEOs played sports in their formative years, emphasizing the profound impact of early exposure to sports on women’s development and their ability to reach their full potential.
Ninety-two per cent of global audiences surveyed by the UN agree it is important for girls to play sports growing up, with 61 per cent deeming it “very important”. Despite the evidence of clear benefits, by the age of 14 girls drop out of sports at twice the rate of boys due to several factors, such as social expectations, lack of investment in quality programmes, and more. ASMITA aims to arrest these societal anomalies.
While reaching every corner of the country to tap grassroots talent has been part of the larger agenda in India’s quest for Olympic glory by 2026, emphasis on women in coaching is something that is gaining ground. In June 2022, the Sports Authority of India issued a guideline to National Sports Federations to engage more women in coaching positions. Not just coaching, the government was keen to see more women in the wider sports ecosystem involving refereeing and supporting roles.
Watch Indian Live Scores and Play Quiz – Download IndiaSportsHub App
One of the key ways is to get more women involved in coaching — they can understand the experiences of sportswomen better and allow the players, especially in rural India, to express themselves “freely and comfortably”. According to a study by the Simply Sport Foundation, women constitute only one-third of the coaching and sports science staff across the majority of centres in India, and alarmingly, less than one per cent are head coaches. It is time to change this and bridge the gender gap.
Paris Olympics 2024 will go down in the history of women in sports as a milestone. Paris 2024 was the most gender-neutral in the history of the Olympics. This milestone was a testament to the relentless efforts and remarkable achievements of women athletes who are breaking records and shattering stereotypes.
The effort to bridge the gap started at Tokyo 2020. Yet, a gap remains in the athletes’ entourage, where the number of women holding leadership roles such as Chef de Mission, Technical Official and coach remains remarkably low. At Tokyo 2020, only 13 per cent of coaches were women.
Women in sports coaching in India have broken barriers and are making a difference in sports. However, they face challenges such as bias, lack of support and safety concerns. But there have been exceptions. Sunil Dabas, Maymol Rocky and Deepali Deshpande are notable sports coaches in India, making tremendous strides in leading kabaddi, football and shooting teams respectively. But we need more if we are to emerge as a sporting nation respecting gender neutrality.
Watch Indian Live Scores and Play Quiz – Download IndiaSportsHub App
In November 2025, the 37th Academic Council Meeting of SAI NS NIS, Patiala addressed the issue of women’s quota for admission to diploma in sports coaching courses. It was observed that the recently unveiled Khelo Bharat NITI 2025 places emphasis upon inclusion of underrepresented groups including women.
Under the “Reduced Barriers for Participation Underrepresented Population Groups” in the Khelo Bharat Niti, an ecosystem to foster inclusivity and increase participation in sports among underrepresented groups such as women, economically weaker sections, tribal communities and those with physical or psychological challenges, dedicated sports facilities will be established along with services tailored to their unique needs.
In view of the above and also to ensure compliance with the National Education Policy 2020 which has a similar mandate, it was decided to approve the proposal for reserving 30 per cent of the seats across sports disciplines for women candidates in Diploma in Sports Coaching with effect from the academic session 2026–27.
It was also directed that the necessary changes be incorporated in the notification for admission and also that in case there is vacancy against reserved seats for women due to non-availability of eligible candidates, the same shall be filled from the unreserved category.
Watch Indian Live Scores and Play Quiz – Download IndiaSportsHub App
It is evidently clear that ASMITA is part of a bigger plan to empower women to bridge societal gaps. Women and sports is a developing story. The International Olympic Committee had prioritized this aspect of sports governance since 1996. It has already made an impact. India’s journey to arm women with more value-added life skills through sports is on a strong path. We can only get stronger.
The author is Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India
