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| SPORTS TRIBUNE | Saturday,
November 23, 2002, Chandigarh, India |
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Indian Railways & National Games OCA secretary-general for upgrading dope lab Mountaineers feel let down |
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Crowd trouble highly condemnable
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Indian Railways & National Games THE reported move by the Railways to seek a separate identity during the forthcoming National Games in Hyderabad is very unfortunate. This august organisation which has contributed so much to sports in India appears to have forgotten some of the ground rules while insisting on parity treatment with Services. Services, it must be remembered, is one of the founder members of the Indian Olympic Association. That is, however, not the only ground for which this organisation must be given special treatment. Services is a national defence-oriented set-up with its men liable to be posted out to any place and any time, depending on the situation and the demands of logistics and other related issues. And transfers in the Services is a part and parcel of the job. Thus a Services athlete, for instance, is not fixed to any one particular area. He may belong to any state or city but what matters is the place he is posted. And that can be anywhere in India. Railways, while claiming to be as important if not more, in terms of duty to the country, however, follow a different pattern in relation to its officers and men. With rare exceptions and that too involving those from the all-India cadre, officers and men stay with their respective units and this generally means one centre. Thus a Chennai-based sports employee of the Railways will continue to be posted in and around Chennai and always qualify for the state when it concerns the National Games or the zone at the time of the Inter-Railway meets. It is only during the open national championships in athletics and other disciplines that he wears the Railway colours. In many ways the railway system is unique and there is no reason for it to want a status equal to that enjoyed by Services. The Railways, it must be emphasised, is the largest single beneficiary of sportspersons in the country. It gives employment to thousand of sportspersons in various departments and more than that, encourages them with related inducements irrespective of their qualifications. Railways is the biggest employer as far as sports is concerned. It is also a very generous employer. Why does it want to change its character now with such a trivial demand, such as wanting a separate team to be fielded in the National Games? If it has such ambitions than these demands should have been voiced at an appropriate time, or during a special meeting of the IOA but certainly a year or so before the scheduled National Games. By putting forward such a demand at this late stage and asking its athletes to stay away from their respective camps held by the various states, Railways has placed its reputation at stake. What it has done can be described as nothing less than blackmail. By placing its sportspersons on hold it will not only devalue the National Games but also set a bad precedent. In addition a large number of its very talented sportsmen and sportswomen will be denied a chance to take part in India’s biggest sports extravaganza. Railways will be making a big mistake by disallowing its sportspersons from taking part in the forthcoming nationals. Whatever be its demands and irrespective of the rationale behind it, the Railways must not hold the National Games to ransom. It will not only be unbecoming of this great institution it will also undo tremendous good it has done to uphold India’s sport tradition during the last eighty years or more. It has made the single largest contribution in almost all the disciplines it has been involved, producing some of the biggest names in Indian sport. Not only that, it has played a great part in the formation of a number of federations with hockey taking the most important role, that of being a founder member. |
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OCA
secretary-general for upgrading dope lab THE secretary-general of the Olympic Council of Asia, Mr Randhir Singh, has underlined the need to upgrade the dope testing laboratory in India. In a recent interview Mr Randhir Singh said, in Asia there were five International Olympic Committee (IOC) accredited dope testing laboratories. Citing the case of Indian athlete, Sunita Rani, who tested positive at the Busan Asian Games, he said: “We in India should have spent money on research and development to remain in tune with the world. As secretary general of the Indian Olympic Association, he was duty bound to warn athletes not to fall prey to unethical practices. It was also the duty of the respective national federations, coaches concerned and doctors to guide their athletes to compete in the true spirit of sportsmanship. Mr Randhir Singh who also has the distinction of becoming the Executive member of the IOC, said drug abuse was spreading among sportspersons and assured that the IOC was fully aware of it. He agreed that at the national level, many athletes were still not sure which salts in different medicines were on the banned list of the IOC, and therefore coaches and respective associations must remain vigilant. When asked why the government was making a bid for the 2012 Olympic Games, Mr Randhir Singh said, they were hopeful of holding the first Afro-Asian Games involving Africa and Asia next year. He said to make a bid for the Olympic games was not a bad, idea provided “we concentrate on building sports infrastructure and increase the budget for sports.” He said if a small country like Qatar could take the lead in staging the 2006 Asian games at Doha, why could not India with a population of more than 100 crores do so. He said India lacked zeal to translate the will into action. According to Mr Randhir Singh, exposure in the Commonwealth games, Asian Games and the rich haul of medals had boosted the confidence of Indian sportspersons. |
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Mountaineers
feel let down
NEVER believe a politician especially when he is in power. This is what two brave girls — Sukhwinder Kaur Sukhi and Paramjit Kaur — of Punjab have learnt over the past four years. These girls belong to Muktsar, home district of former Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal. They not only opened a new chapter in adventure sports, but also achieved distinction in the most difficult area of mountaineering. In fact, Sukhwinder is popular as ‘Bachendari Pal’ of Punjab. However, they remain jobless in their home state, which otherwise has given jobs to hundreds from other states. Both had a bitter experience with Mr Badal, who, as Chief Minister, had assured them of respectable “government jobs while praising their achievements. “We went to Mr Badal’s house several times when he was Chief Minister. Every time, he sent us back by assuring us that appointment letters were on the way. However, the appointment letters have not reached us”, they said with a heavy heart. Sukhwinder Kaur, who did a rock climbing course in basic and advance mountaineering from Manali achieved the distinction of climbing Mount Kamet, the third highest peak with a height of 25,650 feet in 1998. Mount Kamet is among the most difficult peaks to climb as a lot of technical skill is required to be on top. Moreover, she was not assisted by any paramilitary group. In July 2002, accompanied by Parmjit Kaur, Sukhwinder also sealed Saser Kangri, reportedly the highest peak (over 23,000 feet) in western Karakoram region. This peak is also among the most difficult ones and has claimed the lives of BSF and other professional climbers. “For us it was almost a death defying experience as there were big glaciers all around”, said the duo. The duo plans to scale Mount Everest next year and is looking for sponsors. They have won many awards, colours and medals. “These pieces of paper are useless until the government gives us suitable jobs. We approached the police authorities concerned but they also turned their backs on us. We have also met the Punjab Governor but his response was also cold.” They rarely sit at home. In August 2000, they travelled on a bicycle from Muktsar to Khardung-la Pass at a height of 18,380 feet covering 1250 km in 21 days. In plains, we used to cover about 100 to 120 km but in hilly terrain about 35 km. Interestingly, most of their adventure activities are financed by non governmental organisations of Muktsar area. |
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Crowd trouble highly condemnable WHAT happened at Rajkot during the third one-day international between India and West Indies is highly condemnable. The crowd behaviour during this match and the previous two matches at Nagpur and Jamshedpur has tarnished our image at the international level. The BCCI should allot maximum matches to Mohali, Delhi, Mumbai and such centres where the crowd behaviour is generally positive. The mischief makers should be given exemplary punishment because it is a question of our country’s prestige. PRITPAL SINGH,
Patiala II The rowdyism by some miscreants observed during all three one-dayers played so far against West Indies is shameful and
indefensible. The mischievous elements should have been taken to task there and then. The policemen on duty in the stadium seemed to be in a holiday mood, rather than doing the duty for which they had been positioned there. These gentlemen should face the crowd or rather sit among them so as to have a sobering effect and also to pinpoint the source of trouble. Such unruly behaviour brings discredit to the game, the centre and the country. On its part, the BCCI should send a strong signal to the managements where conducive atmosphere for conducting international matches is not possible. J.K. MAGO,
Panchkula Zaheer Khan The Indian cricket team is in focus these days as a bunch of fighters and one of them, who has been a revelation and played a big part in the team’s transformation is pacy left-armer Zaheer Khan. He has been striking with great regularity this year in both forms of the game and it was quite satisfying to see him play a major role in India’s series-clinching victory in the Chennai Test last month. For a man who had bowled only with a tennis ball till he was past 17 and yet made it to the national squad within five years, it is indeed an incredible achievement. With Nehra and Agarkar also in the fray, this talented youth has already made a mark for himself in international cricket and has proved to the world that he is here to stay. After Javagal Srinath, who is not getting any younger, it required somebody as dedicated, strong and aggressive as Zaheer to take up the mantle to be India’s fast-bowling spearhead. SUSHIL GIRDHER,
Sirsa Incredible win India’s victory over West Indies is indeed incredible. The victory is a landmark achievement in the sense that despite the early exit of Virender Sehwag and Saurav Ganguly and in the absence of Sachin Tendulkar, the mainstay of our batting, the team successfully chased a mammoth score of 324. Hats off to Bangar, Rahul Dravid, and Laxman who were the real heroes of the Indian victory. The contributions by Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh also deserve special mention. ANJIV SINGH JASWAL,
Chandigarh |
