When Milkha and I, who just came No 4 in Olympics, are no longer seen as icons

I sincerely wish all that would happen. I don’t want to sound pessimistic, but look at what is happening now: Each year, the Government is quietly cutting down its actual budgetary allocation for sports. It was Rs 237 crore in 2004-2005, it is Rs 301 crore in 2005-2006. Don’t be fooled into thinking there is an increase. The government had spent Rs 1.18 per capita to develop sports last year, but it is actually spending 30 paise less this year.

Now, if you say the government’s spending 88 paise per capita to develop sports sounds good enough, think again. The biggest chunk of the allocation — 60 per cent — goes into paying an army of sports officials their salaries and allowances, another 20 per cent goes for maintaining existing infrastructure, another 10 per cent is spent on benefits for sportspersons (scholarships and incentives). So what are you left with to actually develop sports? Just about 10 per cent of the piddly allocation.

Now look a little farther, at China. The government there is already training the kids for the 2016 and 2020 Olympics — scientifically, strategically, systematically, giving them complete backing and financial security, even vouchsafing for their future.

And here? I hate to say this but we have a government and a huge bunch of sports mandarins running our various sports federations and associations, who apparently think it is their duty to crush or steamroll any effort even by committed individuals to do something for the cause of sports.

I don’t want to elaborate on that, just look up the newspapers over the last couple of years. I find that most sports bodies in the country are run by the same people who were running them when I first came into sports. There’s hardly any infusion of new thinking or initiatives, no meaningful talent hunting.

I am actually ashamed that people like me and Milkha Singh are still considered sports icons in our country. Both of us never won anything more than fourth places in the Olympics of our time. Is it not a reflection of where India still stands in the international sports arena?

I often hear people saying that athletics in our county is where it is because cricket has caught the popular fancy. That is hogwash. I still recall some newspaper headlines from 1983 to 1986 when I was at my peak and fresh from the Los Angeles Olympics performance, and India had just had its defining moment in cricket, winning the 1983 World Cup. Stalwarts like Kapil Dev, Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri were being quoted saying that athletics was getting a whole lot more media attention than cricket!

The fact is, even today, athletics is the best bet for India in sports, no matter whichever way you look at it.

It still has a huge market here. Consider this: An average district athletics meet still draws about a thousand contestants, and their number is still upwards of a lakh and a half each year, countrywide. Because athletics is a community sport that brooks no class or other differences. You can still run barefoot and win a race, without strapping on unaffordable gear.

And do we really have exceptional talent coming up? Well, the only record of mine that still stands is the one I clocked in hurdles at Los Angeles in 1984, all the rest have been vanquished.

I have also found more to be happy about. I now run a sports school that I have founded in my home town. I would say without risking exaggeration that four of my wards are great Olympic material. But they need to be provided what I could never dream of in my time: Advanced scientific training, international facilities, complete state backing, and yes, financial security for the future.

If we have those in place, I am confident that India would begin winning three to four track medals in each Olympics from 2012. More importantly, we need to see that there is no narrow bias, no class, creed or parochial considerations, when we pick our young sportspersons to be groomed.

Unfortunately, it is often not so now.

There is also a dire need for some attitudinal correction among our sportspersons. I have observed that many talented young ones look at sports as just a vehicle to get them jobs or some money. That really has to change. Sports can’t be just that if you are to really make your presence internationally.

I’ll sign off with what I think are the crucial things India needs to do for its sports:

• Our sports promotion and control systems need a thorough overhaul. It should be doing what it is supposed to.

• Give our young ones all the facilities that their peers have in developed countries.

Equally important is strategic planning of their development. The first four years of serious induction into sports are crucial for developing their general qualities. The years after they turn 16 should be devoted to clearly planned development in their specialisations. Right from honing the basics at Level 1 to preparing them for a specific big event at Level 4. Hardly anything of that kind happens now.

• Give them enough live competition exposure. This is an area where we are still miles behind many countries even now.

Equally vital is giving them financial security for their future. When you get off the starting block giving everything you have for your country, you need to be sure that the country will take care of your future, whatever happens.