India’s Prime Minister Modi, just like the rest of us is clearly not satisfied with 2 medals in Rio Olympics 2016. For an aspiring nation that is as big as India, sky should be the limit. Hence, PM has announced the setting up of a task force to prepare India for the next 3 Olympics Games – 2020, 2024, 2028. The task force would cover infrastructure, training and selection. We at ‘The Sportsrush’ analyse what are the action points that have to be included as part of this action plan.
More Investment
The highly successful nations in Olympics are either rich or employ state sponsored sporting facilities. United Nations of America and European nations belong to the former category while China, which is competing with USA on every ground, belongs to the latter category. On the other hand, India belongs to neither and unless there is a big investment from government, it is difficult to expect any significant improvement in the near future. Private Sporting Academies like Gopichand Academy can’t be expected in every sport and hence, government must invest. Along with good academies, worthy coaches and medical staff are a must, if Indian athletes are to aspire for a podium finish. Hence, investment through proper channels and at right areas should be one of the key areas as part of this action plan.
Job Security/ Government Jobs
A good number of athletes who represented India in Rio Olympics 2016 worked part time either as a honey collector, or as a sub-inspector etc. Hence, these athletes couldn’t put in much time in practice except for a period of three to six months prior to the Olympics. However, it is imperative that these athletes practice day in and day out in order to compete with the best in the business.
One of the fundamental requirements for pursuing sport as a full time career is the absence of financial struggles. Being financially weak by birth, a lack of corporate sponsors for non-glamorous events does no good to improve the financial status of these athletes. Hence job security for these athletes is an important measure that can relieve them of the financial burden and allow them to practice at peace. A lot of thinking has to go behind this to decide the type of jobs and the eligibility criteria.
Better coverage in DD National and All India Radio
Even though events of national significance are covered in DD National, there is a shortage of proper promotion. Whether this is the reason for common people not following up with Commonwealth and Asian Games is debatable, but a good attempt at reviving the interests can never be a wrong move. Once people start following these sports, corporate sponsors will start tracking these athletes as well and it will lead to multiplicity of benefits. Added to the benefits is the motivation an athlete will get on having a good fan base. This will stimulate them to keep improving and give their best every time. Thus, a better promotion and coverage in the state owned TV channel DD National and Radio channel All India Radio should be one of the first steps in the right direction.
Rapid Transformation and Not Gradual Evolution
PM Modi has rightly said that it should be a rapid transformation and not gradual evolution. India has already lost a lot of ground on these events, and next 12 years should ideally be good enough to turn around the scenario with proper planning and implementation. Delaying the project will unnecessarily complicate things and make it more expensive. Moreover, one never knows what a change of government can do for political goodwill. In order to avoid all these, any plan should be rapid.
The upgradation of facilities, coaching etc. can be done within a period of five to six years. While a few sports can be readied within Tokyo 2020, for a majority of other sports we should ideally target Olympics 2024.
Imparting Ethics
The task force has another important task at their hands. It should emphasise on the importance of establishing ethics to sportspersons. Instances of doping, or faking the sex etc. should be avoided at any cost. All these instances put India in a really bad light. The recent Wrestling instance should serve as a good example for this. The athletes may just have a short term view of a goal, but as a responsible management it falls on the task force to remind and educate the bigger perspective to these athletes. This should not be ignored for the sake of nation’s goodwill.
