India’s poor performance at the 35th Olympics games which concluded in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) last month — just two also-ran medals — despite the country sending its largest Olympics contingent ever (119 athletes) has again highlighted the dismal state of sports education and performance in the country — inadequate training facilities, stranglehold of politicians on sports associations and neglect of sports in the country’s 1.4 million schools, 37,000 colleges and 800 universities.

Despite its huge population pool (1.3 billion), India ranked #67 in the medals tally, way below not only the United States (121 medals, with 46 gold), Britain (67 with 27 gold) and China (70 with 26 gold) but below Jamaica (pop. 3 million, 11 medals and 6 gold), Kenya (pop. 44 million, 13 and 6) and Kazakhstan (pop. 17 million, 17 and 3). 

Acknowledging India’s poor Rio performance in a nationwide broadcast on All India Radio on August 26, prime minister Narendra Modi announced establishment of a “task force which will help to plan for the effective participation of Indian sportspersons in the next three Olympics, to be held in 2020, 2024 and 2028”. 

The Indian Olympic contingent’s dismal — but predictable — performance has invited a floodtide of expert opinion and analyses in the media even as over-the-top celebrations and generous awards/honours are being rained upon the two medal winners. “India’s problem starts at the basic level: the abysmal attention given to sport. Of 1.3 billion (sic), less than 15 percent are actually exposed to it… A politico-socio-cultural ethos that sees sporting excellence as an imperative is necessary… This requires long-term vision, meticulous planning and hard-boiled execution. India has been found wanting in all these aspects, caused essentially by government ineptitude and supplemented by public indifference,” wrote renowned sports journalist Ayaz Memon in the Times of India (August 22).

The root cause of the pathetic performance of Indian athletes and sportspersons in international arenas — cricket excepted — is woefully inadequate provision for sports education. The annual budget of the Union ministry of sports and youth affairs for 2016-17 is a mere Rs.1,592 crore against which the UK government’s provision to prepare 366 athletes for the Rio Olympics was £350 million (Rs.3,220 crore). 

The official neglect of sports education is compounded by societal and parental indifference to it. While in the US and OECD countries it’s normative for corporates to sponsor local tournaments and championships combining philanthropy with brand building, such initiatives are rare in India. Consequently crucial infrastructure — stadiums, gymnasia and playgrounds — required for children and youth to practice, is woefully inadequate. Moreover most parents and households discourage children from taking to sports and athletics which are widely believed to be inimical to academic achievement. “Most families want their children to become doctors or accountants. Sports talents would be (sic) persuaded by family and even neighbours, stopping them from taking part in high-level competitions,” comments a Chinese website (www.chinanews.com) derisively. 

“A sports culture needs to be promoted within children by enabling access to playgrounds, sports, trainers and organising widely publicised and remunerative sports competitions for different age groups. A quick fix solution like a task force won’t work unless there’s societal will to promote athletes,” says Satish Nagappan, senior programme manager at STAIRS (Society for Transformation, Inclusion and Recognition through Sports), a Delhi-based NGO (estb.2005) which has promoted 400 free-of-charge sports training centres in 4,000 villages in seven states. Currently, over 200,000 children access STAIRS  training centres every day. 

Rather than constituting task forces and committees, that’s the road-map the Union and state governments need to follow. 

Swati Roy (Delhi)