2018 has arrived with a new dawn in the sporting landscape of the country. As the heroes of the victorious Indian team landed in Mumbai, the buzz in the sporting corridors of the country were the boys like speedster Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi, batsmen Prithvi Shaw, Shubman Gill and Manjot Kalra, all-rounder Abhishek Sharma and the others. Behind the exuberance of these boys were the calmness and serenity in the face of Rahul Dravid. The depth of his facial expression reminded everyone that sporting champions are not made in a day. It’s the end result of the long drawn out and scientifically executed process. More than fourteen hundred kilometres away from Mumbai, in the heart of Delhi, a major step towards initiating a similar process in the sporting landscape of the country was taken. Khelo India School Games 2018—which kick started in the Jawahar Lal Nehru stadium in Delhi has the potential of bringing in the transformative changes in Indian Sports. This could be the beginning of the long drawn out process which may result in the emergence of the future champions who will dominate the world of sports in the years to come.
For too long the country’s sporting mindset followed a flawed thought process. Before every Olympic Games we used to count on the handful of medal hopefuls. Most of these medal hopefuls had emerged despite the system. In fact, they had to fight against the very system which was meant to facilitate their growth process. And, they used to be up against the well-oiled and groomed war machinery of their sporting adversaries—who were the byproducts of the systemic growth process. Once the Olympics used to be over- the media and the fans used to lament about the fact that a country having the second largest population on the globe is struggled for a single medal. And, then the debate used to die down for another four years, till the next Olympics Games. The sporting thought process and the sporting machinery used to go on the four yearly sabbatical as well. “A journey of thousand miles starts with a single step. Why did it take us 70 years to take this decisive step? Perhaps, this was because of our penchant for instant results as they give instant popularity dividends. Any measure for a transformative change requires years of hard work and brings out the results over a period of time”, says Professor Nandan Kishore, academician based in Santhal Pargana. Amidst this legacy, Khelo India School Games 2018 is the silver lining. If the bunch of Under-19 Cricket Champions Indian Team bore testimony to the strong bench strength which the Indian cricket establishment assiduously built and cultivated over the years, Khelo India Games could herald the similar process in the realm of Indian Olympics sports. If Rahul Dravid has emerged as the authentic Indian Guru to his disciples in the junior cricket team, the colourful opening ceremony of the games showcased the rich ‘Guru- Shishya’ tradition of the country in grand style.
Why is ‘Khelo India Games’ a transformative step? The country having the second highest population on the globe is currently blessed with a huge demographic dividend. More than 65 per cent of the population of the country comprise of those who are below 40 years of age. And, this is a step to sensitise the population on the importance of developing the sporting culture in the country. As the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi said in the opening ceremony,“Sport is an important means of personality development and Khelo India is not a programme, it’s a mission. The Games will highlight India’s young sporting talent and showcase India’s sports potential. Khelo India is not only about winning medals, its’ an effort to give strength to a mass movement for playing more. We want to focus on every aspect that would make sports more popular across the nation. When we say India has grown on the world stage, it does not only mean having a strong army and powerful economy. It includes people of India distinguishing themselves as scientists, artists, and sportspersons. And, I am confident India will scale these heights. I trust our youth”. This is further elaborated when the country’s sporting statesman P Gopichand says, “Only when we will play, we will be a fitter nation. And only when we will be a fitter nation, our youths will be able to do well in the varied fields. And, many of the youths who will shine in the realms of sports, will comprise a formidable bench strength in each sports who will go ahead and win medals for the country”. As Dr Saranjeet Singh, a fitness expert says, “India has emerged as diabetic center of the world. The country has the huge population who are suffering from cardio vascular diseases. We have problems related to acidity. All these are on account of the sedentary life style in which we were getting accustomed to right from our childhood. Steps like Khelo India have the potential of more and more children taking up sports and emerging out as healthy individuals”. The entire issue needs to be seen holistically. As academician Nandan Kishore says, “Steps like Yoga, cleanliness drive and Khelo India are all the steps in the direction of fitter and healthy India. We as the nation will be able to excel when we have more and more fit individuals who are ready for take-off in the
varied walks of life”.
The Khelo India scheme if executed properly has the potential to ignite the passion of the kids towards the sports. Firstly, it talks of giving scholarship to the talented sportspersons identified every year over a sustained period of time. This will definitely enlarge the country’s talent pool. The sporting administration however will have to be professionalised in the direction of coming up with almost full proof talent identification system based on meritocracy. “This again is the area where we have poor legacy. Our selection at the grass roots has been dominated by favoritism. This has to end”, says Saranjeet Singh. Secondly, the scheme has been packaged and publicised well for the national television audience. This is going to have a huge cascading impact in the coming years. Showcasing the grass roots talent in the national television space will trigger their motivation to build on it further. Thirdly, the government has got its heart on the right side is also clear from the budget provisions. The pet project received a fillip in the 2018-2019 Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The programme which focuses on revival of sports at grass roots level will receive Rs 520.09 crore, an addition of Rs 70 crore from last year. More importantly, while the overall budget of Ministry has increased only marginally from Rs 1938 crore to Rs 2196.35 crore, Rs 170 crore of the Rs 258 crore increase was allocated to the Khelo India Programme. But as sports journalist Sohan Singh sums it up, “This scheme or the mission of the government should be treated like a work in progress and not the finished product. Every year the games and the eco system around the games will come up with lessons which need to be fine-tuned in the subsequent years”.
If we go to the medal tally table in the 1st Khelo India School Games, Haryana, Maharashtra and Delhi have emerged as the top three teams. More importantly, amongst the top positions in the medal tally, is the north-eastern state of Manipur. This also speaks about the indicators emerging from the first edition of the games. Maharashtra has got a huge talent base in sports. There is a legacy of sports in the certain pockets of the State. The talent pool and the legacy need to be backed by a well-oiled system. If this is done, the State has the potential of surging ahead in the subsequent games. Haryana is India’s sporting surprise story. The State has given India rich haul in medal tally in the recent years. Off late several steps are being taken to put a system in place. These include transparent system to provide sportspersons in the State with jobs and the plan to come up with Vyayamshala in every village and sporting center of excellence in every district. Manipur, as well is the part of the larger trend. The State has a rich treasure-trove of indigenous games and many of them have graduated to the modern games. The State has a rich legacy in sports. As Lalsoranga, a former broadcasting head says, “If India aspires to be the sporting nation, north-east has to be the engine of the sports growth processes.”
Under-19 World Cup Champion team heroes may or may not play in the senior team in the coming years. But their dominance gives us the conviction that Indian Cricket has got a strong legacy in the coming years. Khelo India success stories in the first edition could build on the legacy which they inculcate from here and be the ambassadors of change we want to see in the times to come. – Abhishek Dubey
(The writer is a senior sports journalist)
