Modi to Address Students in Khelo India Dialogue, Maharashtra Colleges Join
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address students and young athletes through the nationwide Khelo India Dialogue on Thursday, an event designed to combine sports policy with youth leadership, volunteering and civic participation. The virtual programme is scheduled for 11 a.m. and will be followed by local discussions with athletes, volunteers and public representatives.
Mera Yuva Bharat, under the Department of Youth Affairs, is organising the programme as part of the 2026 National Sports Day celebrations. Government briefings describe participation at more than 1,500 locations, with a larger estimate of about 1,600 venues and eight lakh young people in state-level announcements. The central design calls for two colleges in every district across states and Union Territories.
Five themes for the student dialogue
The discussion is structured around five themes. The first concerns better sports facilities, coaching, sports science and inclusive access. The second focuses on identifying and developing talent for India’s ambition to host and compete strongly at the 2036 Olympic Games.
The remaining themes connect sport with youth leadership, future-ready skills and volunteering for a developed India, and a Nasha Mukt Yuva campaign against substance abuse. Local sessions are intended to let students contribute proposals rather than only listen to a national speech.
Confirmed Maharashtra institutions
Public notices, institutional pages and regional announcements confirm several Maharashtra participants. They include the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay; Symbiosis, although the central Maharashtra announcement did not specify a campus; All India Institute of Medical Sciences Nagpur; Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology Nagpur; L.A.D. College in Nagpur; and Shivprasad Sadanand Jaiswal College at Arjuni Morgaon in Gondia district.
IIT Bombay scheduled its gathering at the P.C. Saxena Auditorium. VNIT Nagpur listed the Senate Hall and announced local participation by international yoga athlete Dhanashri Lekurware and international badminton player Rohan Gurbani. Gondia’s district administration separately identified Shivprasad Sadanand Jaiswal College as an event location. A Nagpur report identified L.A.D. College as the only selected institution affiliated with Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University.
This is a confirmed but not exhaustive Maharashtra list. The nationwide plan covers two colleges in each district, while the available central release did not publish a consolidated institution-by-institution list for the entire state. A regional report said 23 colleges were selected across Maharashtra and Goa but did not provide every name.
What would make the exercise meaningful
The programme’s scale gives it reach, but its value will depend on what happens after the broadcast. Students’ proposals should be recorded, grouped by theme and returned to participants with clear information on which ideas are being evaluated. Colleges can also publish local action plans covering facility access, women’s participation, para-sport, coaching quality and safeguards for young athletes.
India’s 2036 ambition requires a broad development pipeline, not only elite stadiums. Transparent talent identification, qualified coaching, nutrition, sports medicine, safe competition calendars and support for education must work together. Rural and lower-income athletes need pathways that do not depend on personal connections or an ability to pay.
The anti-drug theme also needs evidence-based implementation. Sport can build routine and peer support, but it is not a substitute for confidential counselling, mental-health care and medically appropriate addiction treatment. Messages that stigmatise affected students can discourage help-seeking.
A nationwide conversation can identify recurring barriers that isolated campus meetings miss. The practical test will be whether the collected ideas shape budgets, facility use, selection systems and youth programmes after National Sports Day has passed.
