PRIME Minister Mr. Narendra Modi has done well to analyse why India’s medals tally in Olympic Games gets limited. The number of medals is less because Indian sportspersons do not take part in nearly half of the disciplines at Olympiads, he said. If this has to be changed for the better, then the Indian sportspersons will have to take part in competition for more -- or most -- disciplines in Olympic Games, And win as many more medals as possible. In other words, the Prime Minister wants the country to expand its sports activity and introduce a keener sense of competition among the young people so that India becomes an undisputed sports superpower. Of course, the Prime Minister is not looking at sports as an activity in which winning medals is the only goal.

 

He wants the nation to engage itself more fully in sports as a matter of general culture of virtuous recreation and healthier and happier living. He is expecting the young generations of Indian people to take to sports for multiple gains -- bigger numbers of Olympic medals being one of those. In other words, the Prime Minister is pushing the overall idea of ‘Khelo India’ more vigorously. With a richer sports culture, he expects Indian sportspersons to win greater numbers of medals in Olympics -- and therefore also in other global competitions. This appeal of the Prime Minister has many positive and wider implications and applications. If the Prime Minister’s vision to be brought in to reality, then the country will have to ensure that sports become an integral part of the school curriculum and university programmes. This will, naturally, require much greater funds allocation, and much greater attention to introduction of more sports disciplines in schools and colleges across the country.

 

India will have to promote greater sporting activity at the community level as well. This is easier said than achieved. For, it will require a very serious collective engagement with different sports that are part of the Olympic portfolio of disciplines. The country’s current budgetary allocation for sports will not be enough to cover the expanded activity. Thus, the Government will have to start dishing out bigger allocations in budgets every year so that there will be no dearth of resources for sports. Modern sports are basically different in nature than their earlier forms. The sense of competition is becoming very keen and aggressive. New rules are being made every now and then, and sports equipment, too, is getting upgraded every passing year. The football of yesteryears, for example, was far cruder than it today is. So, playing with technology-driven sports equipment or rules and regulations is an altogether different game -- which India will have to master at multiple levels. The Prime Minister has outlined his vision for Indian sports. Now, it is upto the nation’s sporting community to pick up the challenge and forge ahead.

 

That will not be easy to begin with. Yet, when the country adopts the new sports culture, then things will improve. India can expect itself to become more competitive and competent in more disciplines in the next few years. A practical requirement of such an emerging sporting culture will be the country’s ability to provide them an honourable means of livelihood once their sports careers are over. The new careers could be connected with sports, or those people may get absorbed in some other honourable jobs. Sports, thus, should become their pursuits of lifetime -- which alone can fetch more medals and greater success in sporting arenas. India should consider itself fortunate to have a national leader whose comprehensive vision includes sports. It means, the nation’s sporting community has a lot of things to do and get engaged in a far more serious pursuit in the field of sports that it is doing today. On its part, the Government too will have to draw upon its deep-reserves and pour money into sports. The vision is not just about sports, but also about the overall culture of fitness and health -- which the common Indian people must understand.