Mehak Gupta Grover
Sports- the literal meaning of sports in India is cricket. And when it’s not about cricket, we construe it as a past- time or a means of leisure. This thought has been instilled within us by ourselves because of the treatment our achievers get. Though our national sport is Hockey, but it has not got any projection. Hockey was the first sport after partition to participate in olympics and win a Gold. Does any of us know the names of players who represent India in basket- ball, archery, and so on. No. Do we know the names of cricket players? Of course, yes!
Hockey has brought us six consecutive olympic golds from 1928- 1956 and two afterwards in 1964 and 1980.
Nisha Rani Dutt, an archery player won the best player award at South Asian Championship. But, the sad sight, she had to leave her passion in order to support her family.
Shanti Devi, a kabaddi player who won silver medal in National Kabaddi League and represented more than 30 times in various Kabaddi Championships. She is now a vegetable seller because of inadequate income.
Sita Sahu- from being a two time bronze medal winner in Athens special olympics in 2011 to selling golgappas, her tale echoes the story of several sportspersons who have faded into oblivion due to poverty.
India’s women Kabaddi team, that won world cup in 2011, had to return home in an auto-rickshaw from the airport. Unlike how cricketers are treated when they return winning from world cups, there were no red carpets, no crowd, nothing to greet these victorious athletes.
It may sound ironic, but the biggest hurdles come from the people who are responsible for helping the athletes.There is no proper governing of administrative issues. There is lack of sporting infrastructures, no job securities of the sportsman, lack of family support and sports culture in our society, not enough recognition of other sportsmen when compared to fame of cricket, athletes do not receive proper funding to meet their needs. Unless there is an exception in achievement of woman player- no news channel shows any concern about women in sports. Social and economic inequalities have a negative impact on the Indian sport. Denial of access to sports infrastructure due to poverty, concentration of stadiums and other sports avenues are only restricted to cities, lack of encouragement to girls to participate in sports, etc, have impaired the development of a positive sports culture in the country. For the development of any sector, formulation and execution of an effective policy is a sine qua non. This is true for sports also. Till date, the sports policy planning and implementation is centralized in the country due to the dearth of resources and the expertise by the State and local governments. Moreover, the absence of a separate ministry of sports at the union level reflects the apathy towards sports.
What about these players? Aren’t they important? Aren’t they talented? They have also made India proud by bringing home awards and medals! Because the sports are ignored by the government and not given any sort of popularity by the media, these players get completely neglected and have to struggle to meet the odds in their everyday life. India does not have a sports culture. Indian athletes who have achieved international success are exceptions rather than products of the country’s sports system. A popular Hindi saying roughly translates to “if you study hard you will live like a king but if you play sports you will ruin your life.”
India is a country with great sporting tradition. There were days when we were world champions in Hockey, we won the cricket world cup in 1983, and athletes like P.T.Usha and Milkha Singh won medals at the Olympics. I sincerely believe that with some effort and hard work, the glorious days will return! The authorities have to take the necessary steps like building grounds and stadiums, setting up youth training programs and providing sufficient funds for the development of sports. There should be a provision for financial support for retired players. The selection process of players and board members needs to be more transparent. There should be equal encouragement for all sports. Even for small victories, players should be appreciated and boosted with confidence. There is an urgent need to change the mind set of the society related to sports as a career.The media like television, newspapers, etc should provide better coverage of all the sports so that the public becomes aware of the sporting achievements of Indians the world over. This will make us proud to be Indians and we will be inclined to support and cheer for our sportsmen and sportswomen who are representing India in various international competitions.
There are many sportspersons who are coming up and performing really well and are being recognised. Mary Kom in boxing, Kalpana Devi in judo, Mani Rai in muay thai, Saina Nehwal in badminton, Sania Mirza in lawn-tennis and the list is endless. But, we really don’t wish them to become extinct because of the lack of basic facilities.
No doubt the government has a crucial role to play, the onus also lies on NGOs, social enterprises and the common citizen to ameliorate our present situation. Scarce public resources have eluded sports.This is further compounded by misallocation, lack of transparency, poor asset management and an absence of a framework for measuring impact of public spending.
This is unlikely to change, despite the government’s best intentions. There are scholarships and endowments for athletes that guarantee a basic minimum standard of living, but this system is fraught with bureaucratic red tape, political interference, conflicts of interest and corruption. Despite the measures taken by the government, the sports ecosystem is of poor quality in the country. For a country of over 1.25 billion, the existing sports infrastructure is not satisfactory. The lack of world-class infrastructure and the inadequate support of the government is reflected in poor performance of Indian athletes in major international events like the Olympics. It is high time, the public and private sector should come together to lift the Indian sports sector from the present deplorable situation.
We have the power,
We have the capability,
We just need little encouragement.
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