Money rains, but goalpost crumbles

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 22

By winning 22 medals in the recently concluded Commonwealth Games held in Australia, sportspersons from Haryana have once again brought the state in the spotlight.

What makes Haryana’s performance more significant is that 38 players from the state competed in Australia out of the 218-member Indian contingent. But the medal haul of Haryana players was more than one-third of the 63 individual medals won by India.

“Our players performed better because the state government has been encouraging medallits by providing them with jobs and cash. Also, the sports infrastructure in the state is among the best in the country,” claims Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Anil Vij.

He further says Haryana has two state sports complexes — one in Faridabad and the other in Rohtak — and 22 district sports complexes in 20 districts, while one in Nuh is under construction.

“The government has developed 20 sports nurseries (10 each for boys and girls). The government pays a stipend of Rs1,500 per month to players below the age of 14 and Rs2,000 to those above 14. The idea is to catch them young,” Vij adds.

The minister further said the government had decided to hire foreign trainers so that sportspersons could win more medals in Olympics and other international events.

Haryana’s spectacular performance in the Commonwealth Games is being attributed to the state’s sports policy — announced by the previous Congress government led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda and now adopted by the present Manohar Lal Khattar government.

The Khattar government had unveiled the Haryana Physical Activities and Sports Policy 2015, increasing the cash awards. Under the policy, Olympic and Paralympic gold medallits will now get Rs6 crore, silver medallits Rs4 crore and bronze medallists Rs2.5 crore.

Asian Games gold medallists will now get Rs3 crore, silver medalists Rs1.5 crore and bronze medallists Rs75 lakh.

Commonwealth Games gold medallists will now get Rs1.5 crore, silver medallists Rs75 lakh and bronze medallists Rs50 lakh.

Claims by the government notwithstanding, the condition on the ground is in a shambles. Sports stadiums in most of the districts are crying for attention.

Poor maintenance and lack of sufficient staff are depriving sportspersons of the facilities they deserve.