Dragonfire versus elephant walk

In India, around the same time in the Eighties, some sections of the leadership claiming proprietorship to ‘patriotism’ took a decision to ‘‘erase our shameful past of being humiliated by foreign powers’’ by demolishing mosques and replacing them with temples, starting with the Babri Masjid. The result is for all to see. Communal forces have divided the country, bringing shame at every forum. At Olympics, our utter humiliation continue. As for hosting the Olympics, we have eons to go!

India cannot achieve Olympic glory by allotting Rs 10,000 crore to sports as demanded by actor-turned-Sports Minister Sunil Dutt. Given the inefficiencies in the system, most of this money will go down the drain. Nor can it be achieved by handing things over to the Army as advocated by former athlete Milkha Singh.

What we need is a plan of action’. We need not wind up the Sports Ministry at the Centre or dismantle the Indian Olympics Association. They have roles to play and let us assign them just that role. Governments and its departments own sports infrastructure and facilities and also have access to taxpayers’ money. But being ‘worshippers of mediocrity’, these departments just do not have the capacity to groom championship material. IOA has a certain role to play under the Olympics Charter and let them do just that. Keep them miles away from selecting and training champions.

However, India has several institutions and organisations that have the capacity to groom talent. We have the Armed Forces, Railways, banks, ports,oil, telecom, power and insurance companies; IT, automobile, tyre, steel, cement, airline, hotel, textile, fertiliser and many other industries. Ten of these institutions/entities should select one sports discipline each and produce hundred sportsmen/sportswomen of excellence. They have the professional competence to appoint and train the best talent and financial resources to back it up. The Government’s role is to place the infrastructure at their disposal and augment their financial resources either directly or indirectly through tax exemptions.

The writer was director of sports, Haryana, and founder-president of the Chandigarh Olympics Association and Lawn Tennis Association