BENGALURU: The Government of Karnataka has officially issued guidelines and rules for its ambitious ‘Bharat Jodo Yuva Sangha’ (BJYS) scheme, aimed at fostering sports, culture, scientific temper, and social harmony among youths. The state government has earmarked a massive annual budget of ₹1,010 crore for this project, under which each registered association will receive an annual development grant of ₹10 lakh, along with a ₹24,000 annual honorarium for its trainers.

Announcing the government order, Deputy Chief Minister and Revenue Minister Ji Parameshwar stated that the administration aims to establish 10,000 Bharat Jodo Yuva Sanghas across gram panchayats and urban wards. This includes roughly 6,000 associations in rural areas and 4,000 in urban sectors. Inspired by the success of the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Lok Sabha Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi, the Congress government under Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar launched this initiative to instill constitutional values and leadership skills in youth, providing an ideological counter to right-wing organizations like the RSS. The scheme will be executed via the Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports, with support from the RDPR, Urban Development, Revenue, and Education departments.

Eligibility Criteria and Registration

Age Limit: Young men and women aged between 16 and 35 years are eligible to become members.
Member Capacity: Every youth club must comprise a minimum of 100 active members who are ordinary residents of that specific gram panchayat or urban ward. An individual can join only one association.
Demographic Guidelines: One association per Gram Panchayat, one per 4,000 population in Town Panchayats, one per 6,000 in Municipalities (Purasabha), one per 8,000 in City Municipal Councils (Nagarasabha), and one per 10,000 population in Corporations/BBMP zones.

Funding and Disbursement Model

The ₹10 lakh grant will be disbursed directly to the association’s bank account in three installments across July, October, and January:

First Installment (₹2 Lakh): Includes ₹1.5 lakh capital grant and ₹50,000 operational grant as an initiation fund.
Second Installment (₹4 Lakh): Comprises ₹50,000 capital grant and ₹3.5 lakh operational grant.
Third Installment (₹4 Lakh): Consists entirely of an operational grant.

The funds must strictly be used to source sports kits, cultural apparatus, computers, internet connections, libraries, or essential office infrastructure. An additional ₹24 crore has been designated to provide a monthly honorarium of ₹2,000 (₹24,000 annually) to assigned youth trainers. All expenses must be digital, and work updates with geotagged photos must be uploaded onto the BJYS software using GPS tracking. Strict auditing will be conducted, and Deputy Commissioners hold powers to take legal action in case of any fund misappropriation. Registration can be done via the BJYS portal/app or through Gram One, Karnataka One, and Bengaluru One counters with a nominal registration fee of ₹10 and mandatory Aadhaar authentication. The units will be registered under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act, 1960.

Committee Composition and Core Activities

Each unit must form a democratic 15-member internal executive committee featuring a President, Vice President, Treasurer, and 12 executive members. Strict reservation quotas dictate that either the President or Vice President must be a woman, and the committee must house a minimum of 5 women. The breakdown requires 3 SC/ST members (1 female), 4 OBC/Minority members (1 female), and 8 General category members (3 female). The committee’s tenure is strictly fixed at 2 years, with no option for consecutive re-selection, paving the way for new faces.

Registered associations are mandated to perform 16 prescribed socio-developmental activities. These include organizing rural sports tournaments, yoga camps, rejuvenating local lakes, plantation drives, blood donation camps, digital literacy workshops, entrepreneurship modules, anti-drug campaigns, celebrating national festivals, and executing awareness programs regarding cyber security, traffic rules, and waste management.

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