INDIA’S MEAGRE medal count at this year’s Rio Olympics has prompted the government to broaden the country’s talent base and decentralise sporting hubs. The minutes of a conference of state sports ministers and secretaries of youth affairs and sports held in the Capital last month mentions a proposal to handpick 50 athletes from each state and “provide all types of required assistance to improve their performance”. In another important takeaway, each state chose at least one sport in which it possesses special talent or a rich tradition. The state will lay special focus on that sport. Mostly, states chose those sports in which they have already produced elite performers. For example, Telangana, home to Saina Nehwal, P V Sindhu and Sania Mirza, opted for badminton and tennis, while Tripura hoped Dipa Karmakar’s performance at the Rio Games, along with the mentorship of Bishweshwar Nandi, would inspire a whole line of top gymnasts. Haryana has a special affinity for boxing and wrestling. Also, the availability of infrastructure in a particular sport played a role in the choice of discipline. Pullela Gopichand’s academy in Hyderabad has produced top shuttlers, the Tata Archery Academy in Jamshedpur has to its credit the likes of Deepika Kumari, while Shahbad in Haryana is acknowledged as the nursery of women’s hockey in the country. At the meeting, states were asked to work in tandem with the union ministry. Sports continues to be on the State List, and despite repeated attempts by Sports Minister Vijay Goel, states did not give him the go-ahead to start work on shifting it to the Concurrent List. “The matter regarding putting sports in the Concurrent List was raised, and it was decided that the matter will be pursued further and support of the states will be required,” said the minutes of the meeting. But Tamil Nadu “expressed reservations” about the proposal, it added. Goel argued that putting sports in the Concurrent List would provide “a uniform direction through a National Sports Policy and Sports Code”. “Adopting different policies by different states and central government is proving a major hurdle in development of sports, and uniformity in sports administration is the need of the hour,” the minister was quoted as saying at the meeting. The minister also “exhorted the states and union territories to consider and explore the possibility of making the National Sports Code applicable on state federations as well so as to make them more accountable for delivery of results.” The Code imposes age and tenure guidelines on office-bearers of sports associations as well as several other requirements regarding transparency and accountability. To a request for more central funds by some states, he replied that allocation for sports was small because it was in the State List. The proposed transfer has been a tricky issue since 1988, when the Constitution (61st Amendment) Bill was introduced to transfer sports to the Concurrent List. The Bill had to be withdrawn in 2009 due to lack of consensus among states. Last October, Goel said a resolution on the transfer had been passed at a meeting with National Sports Federations, but it would require consultations with the state governments.
