Kiren Rijiju’s first tweet of the new decade highlighted one of the existing flagship programmes of the current sports ministry. “2020 is not just the start of a decade,” he posted. “But it is also a start of India’s journey towards Olympic excellence and a Fit India. @KirenRijiju wishes everyone a fit and sporty year.” In a year that’s likely to be defined by what India does — or does not — do at the Olympics, it’s also important to not lose focus on the longer-term objectives of the current dispensation. In September, Rijiju had said that the sports ministry would create 20 National Centres of Excellence so that they can develop athletes capable of taking part in the 2024 and the 2028 Summer Games. “Standardising the training on campus will enable athletes to attain much higher performances in their respective sport, ” t h e Arunachal Pradesh MP had said then.
“When athletes of the same level train at a centre and the facilities are made exclusively available to them, they will train better and results will show.” With the blueprint in place, the government is of the opinion that they are primed to achieve that target of winning double-digit medals at the 2024 Olympics. Of greater significance is the government’s Khelo India Scheme which took off amid much fanfare some three years ago. “The Khelo India programme has been introduced to revive the sports culture in India at the grassroots level by building a strong framework for all sports played in our country and establish India as a great sporting nation,” the Khelo India website says in the ‘About section’ of the website.
‘Grassroots’ is a much-abused word and it remains to be seen if, or, indeed when , the Khelo India Youth Games will start to contribute athletes towards sporting excellence. But this programme has shown promise with the likes of Manu Bhaker and Srihari Nataraj using the meet as a platform to emerge into the national sporting consciousness. The budget for the third edition of the Games — Rs150 crore — goes to show the seriousness of the whole thing. There is going to be live telecast as well, giving potential stars the exposure they need at an early age. Leaving aside that fact, there is also a concerted effort to identify kids and give them proper coaching in decent facilities from a formative age (a crib that India’s past athletes frequently aired). While replying to a question asked during the Winter Session of the Lok Sabha, Rijiju said: “(...) 2741 athletes have joined the scheme out of which 1388 athletes are getting trained in Academies accredited by SAI.
The remaining are getting training through their own arrangements.” There is more than a chance that most of these athletes will drop out of pursuing competitive sports in the next couple of years but as long as the scheme unearths a couple of future champions every couple of years, it will have serve its purpose. Beside, the actual aim of the project is to inculcate a sense of sporting culture among India’s next generation. According to Rijiju, some of the scheme’s verticals include: “sports for peace and development, community coaching development and talent search and development.” The challenge now is to sustain this.
