Sports infrastructure plays a crucial role in achieving
excellence in the global arena of sports. It not only helps in producing
sports persons of international repute, but also encourages the young population
of a country to participate in sporting activities with the objective of
creating a culturing of sports. In India, the standard of sports infrastructure
is not at a satisfactory level for a number of reasons.
The lack of infrastructural facilities is one of the major
constraints in the process of development of sports in India. The objective of
this article is to analyze the present state of sports infrastructure of the
country and propose a possible road map for its development.
In recent years, a phenomenal growth has been observed in
Indian sports with the staging of mega sports events, such as the U-17 FIFA
Football World Cup, Commonwealth Games 2010, Hockey World Cup and Cricket World
Cup.
In 2016 Summer Olympic Games, India won a Silver medal in
badminton and a Bronze medal in wrestling. P.V. Sindhu, the badminton icon of
the country, became the youngest Indian to win an Olympic medal. India won a
total of six medals in the 2012 London Olympics, including two Silver and four
Bronze medals. The success of Sushil Kumar, Abhinav Bindra, Mary Kom, P.V.
Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Sakshi Malik and Sania Mirza has already established the
country on the global sports map.
The continued success of Jeev Milkha Singh, Arjun Atwal
and Jyoti Randhawa has created a prominent position for India in the discipline
of golf. In cricket, India has already emerged as a superpower due to its
excellence in sporting and commercial performances.
Despite all these successes, it is pertinent to mention
that the status of sports infrastructure in India is yet to reach the desired
level. This creates an obstacle in developing a culture of sports in the
country.
1982 was a significant year in the history of sports in
India when the country organized the Asian Games for the second time. Prior to
that, hardly any emphasis was given to sports in the public policies of the
country.
The following table represents the fund allocations to
sports in different Five- Year Plans since 1982:
Five Year Plans
|
Duration of Five Year Plans
|
Allocation to Sports (INR Million)
|
Sixth Five
Year Plan
|
1980-1085
|
270
|
Seventh Five
Year Plan
|
1985-1989
|
2070
|
Eighth Five
Year Plan
|
1992-1997
|
2100
|
Ninth Five
Year Plan
|
1997-2002
|
4730
|
Tenth Five
Year Plan
|
2002-2007
|
11,450
|
Eleventh Five
Year Plan
|
2007-2012
|
46,360
|
- Scheme of Grants for Creation of Sports Infrastructure including Rural Schools, for which INR 942.5 million was allocated.
- Scheme of Grants for Installing of Synthetic Playing Surfaces, for which INR 201.3 million was allocated.
- Scheme of Grants for Promotion of Games and Sports in Universities and Colleges, for which INR 328 million was allocated.
- Scheme of assistance for the creation of Urban Sports infrastructure.
- To arrange dedicated land bank for the setting up of sports infrastructure
- To adopt PPP model in which the government will provide institutional and financial support for the building of infrastructure and the private sector will manage and maintain its operations
- To introduce various commercial aspects, such as selling the Naming Rights, Hospitality Packages and branding inside the stadiums, to make these facilities financially sustainable
- To use these facilities for multiple purposes, such as organizing exhibitions, conferences or for the setting up of sports academies
- To make these infrastructural facilities open for the use of the public against membership fees
A
significant increase can be observed in the fund allocation to sports in the
Eleventh Five- Year Plan, most of which was directed for developing sports
infrastructure with the objective of staging of the Commonwealth Games in 2010.
Some of the major initiatives taken for the development of sports
infrastructure in India are mentioned below:
However, these initiatives are not sufficient for
creating sporting opportunities by building sports infrastructure. In the next
section of this article, the problems relating to the development of sports
infrastructure in India are explained.
According to the Constitution of India, sport is a State
subject. The state governments allocate funds for the development of sports and
sports infrastructure as per their priority. There is no comprehensive approach
for the development of sports infrastructure uniformly throughout the country.
The support from the central government was substantially
withdrawn with the shift of the schemes, related to sports infrastructure, to
the states in the Tenth Five Year Plan. This has created further problem.
The non-availability of land for building sports
infrastructure is another major obstacle. Moreover, not much initiative has
been observed till now in promoting sports-specific infrastructure by adopting
PPP model to ensure the sustainability of these facilities.
The commercial aspects for generating revenue from these
infrastructural facilities have not yet been explored properly.
These are some of the major obstacles in building and
sustaining sports infrastructure in India.
The following recommendations may be made for the
development of sports infrastructure in the country:
- To arrange dedicated land bank for the setting up of sports infrastructure
- To adopt PPP model in which the government will provide institutional and financial support for the building of infrastructure and the private sector will manage and maintain its operations.
- To introduce various commercial aspects, such as selling the Naming Rights, Hospitality Packages and branding inside the stadiums, to make these facilities financially sustainable.
- To use these facilities for multiple purposes, such as organizing exhibitions, conferences or for the setting up of sports academies.
- To make these infrastructural facilities open for the use of the public against membership fees
The above solutions may help in overcoming the obstacles India faces
in the area of sports infrastructure. However, a change in the mind-set of the
decision makers in sports, politics and related fields is a prerequisite for
implementing the solutions.
It is a pity that majority of the children going to
schools in India do not get the opportunity to take part in sports due to the
lack of infrastructure or even open spaces. Who will solve this? A joint effort
is needed. We all are waiting for a change in the mindset for improving sports
in the country.
Source: The Sports Digest
