Despite of the fact that the present condition of sports in India, except for cricket, is pathetic, Indian sportspersons have made a remarkable contribution at international level. Cricket undoubtedly gets the best management and sponsors of the country, probably due to its popularity and craze among the people. It is not that India is not faring well in sports other than cricket. We have a talented bunch of youngsters in the form of Armaan Ebrahim, Saina Nehwal and Somdev Devvarman. It’s just that we need many more such players to make us proud. And for that to happen, we have to change our mentality. We have to be more open towards the idea of sport as a profession. But the question is: Are other sports getting what they deserve and demand?
Sports talent should be discovered from rural areas following the simple rule of business that factory is set-up where raw material is available. The sports need to be promoted as per the geographical situations like swimming be promoted in the areas where there are water bodies, shooting be promoted in Vanvasi areas, etc. Instead of cricket, sincere steps be taken to promote Indian games.”—Dr Rajpal Singh, International Shooter
Commitments of BJP |
-State Governments to fully discharge their responsibility in the promotion of it. -Arrange sports facilities and training needs for promoting a healthy lifestyle, and making sports as a compulsory part of the school curriculum. -Launch a “National Sports Talent Search System”, so that extraordinary sporting talent is identified at a very young age. The existing rural sports programme and National Women Sports Festival will be broadened to reach every village and to identify talent for nurturing and excellence development. -Attractive career path needs to be planned for sportspersons. |
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