Date: 23/09/2022

Relevance: GS-2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation

Key Phrases: 36th National Games, Olympic Association Of Goa, Indian Olympics Association, Khelo India Youth Games, Mini-Olympics

Why in News?

• National Games are set to happen between September 26 and October 10 after seven years after the Gujarat government’s swift decision to play host to the 36th edition of the games.

Key Highlights:

• A tripartite Host City contract was signed in 2008 between the Goa government, the Olympic Association of Goa, and the Indian Olympics Association(IOA) for holding the games in Goa in November 2016.
• After repeated postponements, the Goa government expressed its inability to play host as it could not create the infrastructure.
• This withdrawal was made recently, 14 years after signing the hosting agreement.

Tracking the progress of National Games in India:

• The National games were fully neglected between 1970 and 1979 wherein no games were held which was followed by subsequent postponements.
• The neglect of the National Games has hindered the development of sporting culture and excellence in the country.
• The National Games on an Olympic scale were first held in 1985 in New Delhi.
• Holding the games in the Olympic format means the responsibility of organising and selecting the host city rests with the IOA.

Significance of the National Games:

• It spurs the development of a sporting culture.
• Sport has a multiplier effect leading to many benefits.
• It is a unifying force that plays an important role in nation-building.
• National Games need to be promoted in a big way, as a mini-Olympics, as they are the only all-India, multi-sport, open format competition.
• They give a platform to the athletes to showcase their talent on the national stage.
• For athletes, a good performance at the National Games opens the doors for college admissions and government jobs.

Some major challenges faced by the sports sector in India:

1. Poverty:
   • The menace of poverty makes it difficult for many Indian families to provide the means for their children to pursue a career in sports.
   • Consequently, a lot of latent talent goes undiscovered or inadequately nurtured to compete at the level of the Olympics.
2. Poor Infrastructure:
   • Lack of facilities at the grass root level of schools and colleges is a major problem.
   • Thus, even if someone has a natural talent in a particular sport, it gets crushed at the school level itself.
   • The concept of school sports or college sports is still not seen as an option in India's education system.
   • Competing with world-class athletes at the Olympics and other stages calls for world-class facilities and international exposure for our athletes which is lacking in Indian sports.
3. Lack of recognition of sports other than cricket:
   • Cricket continues to dominate India's sporting landscape.
   • Sports other than cricket are not given much weightage as a career option, because neither they appear financially lucrative nor glamorous.
   • More than the government, it's the apathy of corporates and wealthy individuals towards other sports that has to change.
4. Corruption:
   • Corruption plagues all major Indian sports, including cricket, hockey, weightlifting, and athletics.
   • The governing boards of the sports federations are under the control of politicians and bureaucrats who have little or no interest and knowledge of the specific requirements and anticipated problems in that sport.
5. Absence of sports hierarchy:
   • The absence of sports hierarchy from grass root level to the national level is another major concern in Indian sports.
   • There is no appropriate mechanism to nurture the talent at school, block and district levels and then promote the talented athletes to state and national levels.
   • As a result, many gifted athletes are not able to reach the topmost echelons of sports and are lost.

What should be the way forward:

• The National Games must be held annually.
• The Khelo India Youth Games and the National Games should be held alternately.
• There is a need to review the system of allotment of National Games to States which the Centre should facilitate with IOA, being the organiser.
• Further, the Centre must step in and organise the national games if there is a failure on the part of a State to host the games.
• The Sports Authority of India can organise the games, as it has all the facilities readily available.
• Organising these games involves massive preparedness and capacity.
• Therefore, the allotment of National Games to smaller States like Goa may not be prudent unless they have facilities like Delhi, Haryana, or Punjab.

What should be the Centre’s role?

• The organisation and hosting of national events can never succeed if the Centre is kept out of the matter.
• Various court orders have stressed the Centre’s role in national sporting events.
• The responsibility of allotting and holding the National Games should rest with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and not the IOA.
• In recent years, the IOA has started allotting these games to States without rigorous assessment of their capabilities, though often the intention was to develop abilities in the States lagging in sports infrastructure.
• However, the Central aid and the creation of infrastructure for the National Games need to be delinked from the scheduled hosting.
• Such aid can be provided under the Khelo India vertical instead.

Source: The Hindu BL

Mains Question:

Q. Sports has a unifying force that plays an important role in nation-building. In this context, discuss the significance of the sports sector and the challenges faced by the sports sector in India. (150 words).