ganda hai par dhandha hai yeh...

Continuing from my previous post The Caribbean Lesson -1

• Did you ever notice that most of the cricketers playing at national level come from a well to do family. We hardly have any cricketer from North Indian states.
• Orissa and TN are birth place for most of the players in Indian Hockey teams from recent past.
• Almost all the runners also belong to these states (plus may be kerala, WB) only.
• Of course all golfers and swimmers come from metros or other big cities. Their family background guides the way for them.
• No Leander Paes was born in Bihar.
• All footballers are somewhere or the other have Kolkata or Goan soul.

What is the point?

Only one thing that there is no proper support from Government. All the efforts are either at personal level or are really scattered. So at one place Mr Acharekar produces Sachins and Kamblis, there is no place for him outside Mumbai. Padukone Academy churns out national level badminton players but still it strives for sponsors. MRF pace academy is shaping next generation of pacers for Australia.

So where does the system fail?

Lets see if there is a system in place? There is a separate union minister for youth and sports. If I am not wrong, even all the state governments have a similar rank of minister. Sports ministry has its alloted budget and it has got its own set of administrative services officers for it. But that is the end. How this works is a failure saga. Current UPA government has Mr Mani Shankar Ayyar holding this post. Check his profile and you will come to know he does not have any idea about abc of sports. NDA had more interesting candidate for this post - the ever fighting Uma Bharti. So clearly at the top its all hazy picture. He is not a Lalu also who can give good power to the beurocracy who might give a better result. And it has worked the same way for last 60 odd years.

Sports ministry allots crores for the development of the sports in country. Where does this money goes is not a tough question to answer. As with other government departments, its a politicians and bureaucracy (they have evolved over time, adjusted very well with the system) which is making the most from it. Whatever chillar (change) actually reaches the ground level, is eaten up there by the babus there.

Did you know that government allots money for sports facility in each government high school. It actually buys sports equipments for each high school. Tenders and Licences play their vital role here. Some of it reaches the school, but in absence of a trainer or coach and many other reasons they are always locked in the sports room (if some teacher or babu has not made it his/her residence). When does the peon sell them in market for dirt cheap rate is something always remains mystery. I remember seeing my friends buying good English willow bats for as cheap as 100 Rs from one such peon. Nobody actually knows if these bats actually existed. They are always there on papers.

All the scholarships for sports enthusiasts is utilised in similar ways. System has no value for merit. Reservations and quotas exist here also. Whatever is left after that is to the mercy of system. Except cricket, no other sports was/is attractive from a profession point of view. So unless you have a support system backing you, you play any game as just a hobby. Government organizations have dedicated place for sports personalities, but these positions are peanuts. And the way these opportunities are managed, its absolutely not serving for any purpose. Private sector has to still catch up on this.

Again coming back to same point as my previous post. We need a proper management in place to make this system work. The odds at stake are too high to be ignored.