The challenges were great as the athletes from across the world landed in Tokyo, a city that has one of highest population densities on this planet.
India did fairly well bagging 7 medals of which one was gold and two silvers and the rest bronze. It was no ordinary feat both by the organisers and the athletes who were kept in a “bubble” just to ensure that the pandemic did not spread. However, we need to learn from the northeastern States and Haryana who have been performing at the highest level. The facilities being provided to the players in Haryana for a long time are not available in any other States.
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In the 127-member squad of India’s players in the Tokyo Olympics, 31 players were from Haryana. Nine players of the women’s hockey team, seven of wrestling, four of boxing and four of shooting have gone to participate in the Tokyo Olympics from Haryana. Haryana has also assured that every such player who is selected in the Olympics is given financial assistance of Rs five lakh only for his preparations.
The Haryana government honours the sportspersons who win medals in the Olympics with special awards. In this, the player who wins the gold medal gets Rs six crore, a silver medallist gets Rs four crore and the winner of the bronze medal gets Rs 2.5 crore. Apart from this, an amount of Rs 20 lakh is also given to the coach of such players as a reward.
Recently, the Haryana government had also announced to reward the players of the women’s hockey team who came fourth in the Olympics. An amount of Rs 50 lakh each was announced by the State government to nine members of this team. These are great incentives.
There are a total of 22 centres built under the Sports Authority of India (SAI) in Haryana, which have made all the policies for the development of sports more than other States including Uttar Pradesh. Apart from this, work is also being done on behalf of the State government to build world class stadiums and sports units in all areas. The State government has also increased the amount spent on nutrition for the players this year. Earlier, where Rs 150 per day was spent on sportspersons for catering in the State, now it has been increased to Rs 250. The total population of Haryana is about 9 crore, but the budget of sports is more than that of Uttar Pradesh with a population of 24 crore. Hence, Haryana shows that they are serious on sporting events and supporting the players.
With Haryana supporting the sportspersons, the effect of this is that from the Commonwealth Games to the Olympics, the players of Haryana have raised their flag everywhere. In the 2010 Commonwealth Games, India got 66 medals, out of which 22 were won by the players from Haryana only. This time the picture is also similar. Haryana is said to be the birthplace of India’s medals in Asian Games, Olympics and Commonwealth Games. The reasons for its success are the same policies with seriousness that other States need to learn.
In northeast where jobs are scarce, youth take up sport just to ensure that they get government jobs. It clearly shows that the sportsperson are not getting support from the authorities unless they make it big.
An athlete cannot perform at the international level unless they get assurance of financial support and long term security as their life span of sporting activity is very short.
Beyond cricket, India needs to improve its sports performance at the elite level, fuelling a strong demand across the spectrum of the sector. The rate of grassroots participation is low, but the scale and potential is immense as rural sportspersons find it very difficult to sustain themselves. Yes, financial backing is absolutely essential and the corporate should use their CSR funds to support the rural athletes.
