The State of Jharkhand is home to immense sports talent and for the promotion of sports the Jharkhand State Sports Promotion Society at Khelgaon, Hotwar, Ranchi was established.
The project is a unique CSR initiative of Central Coalfields Limited, a subsidiary of Coal India Limited. The academy under JSSPS is a jointly funded project of CCL and the State Government. Besides funding, CCL handles the operation and maintenance of the academy.
The aim of the academy is to lend wings to the dreams of the children of the State and nurture them holistically so that they can scale great heights.
The foundation of the academy was laid in 2015 when an MoU was signed between CCL and the State Government. The initial batch of 78 children joined the academy in 2016. Presently, there are 437 children in the academy. About 96 per cent of the Sports Cadets belong to SC/ST category and other backward communities. Jharkhand State Sports Promotion Society has been accredited for 4 years under Khelo India Development Program.
Under the leadership of CCL CMD, PM Prasad the company is committed to the holistic development of the community and implementing various other welfare activities throughout the State. He added that the State Government is providing all the necessary support to the company in its various endeavours.
The children are selected for the academy through a transparent and objective selection process. The selection trials for the academy is one of the largest talent hunt program organised anywhere in the country.
A team of professional selects children based on simple Motor Ability Tests carried across the 24 districts of Jharkhand. The entire selection process is video graphed and by evening, on the day of evaluation, the results of trials are uploaded on the website of the academy. We can assess the popularity of the academy because in the year 2016-17 when the trials started, 4200 applications were received, while in the year 2019-20, this figure surged to 3.24 lakh.
Expert coaches give the selected cadets training in ten distinct sports disciplines. They train the cadets in Athletics, Archery, Football, Taekwondo, Weightlifting, Cycling, Swimming, Shooting, Wrestling and Boxing. CCL Director Personnel, Mallikarjuna Rao states that the company is committed to provide the best possible infrastructure to the cadets so that they can optimise their potentials.
The cadets are likewise provided with all the amenities, from boarding and lodging to medical and accidental insurance. The campus has a separate hostel for boys and girls, which is Wi-Fi enabled. Cadets are provided a tablet to facilitate online training and e- learning. The selected cadets are given education through open schooling. Each selected cadet is granted an assistance of Rs 500 per month with an annual increment of 5 per cent. During the Covid Pandemic, an additional amount of Rs 3000 was transferred to the bank account of the cadets for their expenses. Under the leadership of Union Coal Minister, Ministry of Coal, Pralhad Joshi, guidance of Coal Secretary, Dr Anil Kumar Jain and CIL Chairman, Pramod Agrawal CCL left no stone unturned to ensure that the cadets didn’t have to encounter difficulties during the pandemic.
In a brief span of five years, the cadets have brought many laurels to the State and
the country.
Florence Barla, who was a cadet of the Academy, won a gold medal in 400 meters and 4X400 metre (Relay) in Eurasian Athletic meet held at Kazakhstan. Deepak Toppo, another athlete from JSSPS, holds the National record in 60m run in Under 14 categories.
He attained this feat in the 36th National Junior Athletics Championships held at Guwahati, Assam. Chanchala Kumari, a tribal girl from the outskirts of Ranchi was selected and groomed at the academy, will represent the country in the Sub-Junior World Wrestling Championship in Hungary.
The cadets of the academy have won 702 medals in different International, National, State and district competitions.
This unique initiative of CCL has been acknowledged at different national forums and it was awarded National CSR Award for contribution to national priority areas, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes Leadership Award-2019 and Scope Corporate Communications Excellence Award-2019 along with a plethora of other awards.