The NIDJAM has finally made its comeback after a year-long absence due to a lack of sponsors. The 20th National Inter District Junior Athletics Meet will take place at Woxsen University in Hyderabad from November 14 to 16.

The NIDJAM is the Athletics Federation of India’s (AFI) biggest talent hunt for Under-14 and Under-16 athletes, with every entry coming through a district athletics association.

However, one district has been left out as its district secretary has been unable to organise the trials to select a team for the meet.

At the National Inter District Junior Athletics Meet, athletes participate and represent their respective districts. The last edition of NIDJAM was held from February 16 to 18, 2024, at Gujarat University in Ahmedabad. Local reports put the participation figure at approximately 6,000 athletes representing 615 districts.

However, some athletes and coaches contacted NNIS Sports, claiming that Nainital, a district in Uttarakhand, has not conducted the trials required to select its team for NIDJAM.

“We have not received any update from our district association regarding the selection trials for NIDJAM. And now they are saying that we can go and compete from another district at NIDJAM,” an athlete said.

“I have skipped the Junior Nationals and School Nationals just for NIDJAM, but there has been no clarity regarding the selection trials for the meet.”

NNIS Sports reached out to Naresh Joshi, the district secretary of Nainital, seeking clarification regarding the selection trials. He said:

“I am not in town, and there is no one who is willing to take responsibility for conducting the meet.”

We also reached out to Uttarakhand Athletics Secretary Kanwal Jit Singh Kalsi. Responding to the issue, he said:

“Yes, we have been receiving complaints from athletes regarding this, but there is not much we can do as the national federation has issued a circular stating that interfering and trying to replace the existing District Associations is not allowed.”

A source in the state body said:

“Yes, there has been long-standing mismanagement in the Nainital district, as they don’t want to promote sports. We have told them to at least invest something towards its growth, but no steps have been taken by them.”

“It has been almost three years since district trials were last conducted, which was before the previous NIDJAM. If you don’t invest and conduct the trials, who will come to compete?” the source added.

As per the AFI’s circular regarding NIDJAM, dated September 9, 2026, only those District Athletics Associations that have conducted their District Athletics Meet are eligible to participate.

The last date for the receipt of online entries is October 30, 2026.

NNIS Sports also contacted the NIDJAM Coordinator at the Athletics Federation of India, C. S. Rathi, who said:

“If there are good athletes, we will definitely look into it and resolve the issue as soon as possible.”