New Delhi, Jan 30: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the Khelo India School Games 2018 on Wednesday at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium. The event will feature all major sports and mark the participation of thousands of under-17 athletes from across the nation. A total of 199 gold, 119 silver and 275 bronze medals will be up for grabs.

The sporting event, to be conducted from January 31 to February 8, aims to scout talent at the ground-level and nurture them for the future. Promising athletes would be assisted with an amount of Rs 5 lakh per annum for the next 8 years, to prepare them for various national and international tournaments.

High-powered committees have been constituted for each priority sport, which would be scouting the talent who could be selected for the financial assistance programme, said the statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office.

"Under-17 athletes have been invited to participate across 16 disciplines: Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Boxing, Football, Gymnastics, Hockey, Judo, Kabaddi, Kho-Kho, Shooting, Swimming, Volleyball, Weightlifting, and Wrestling," the PMO statement adds.

The initiative comes in the backdrop of Union Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore expressing the need for a framework where promising talent could be financially assisted by the government.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 30, 2018 10:28 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).