With everything said and done, can Khelo India be termed as a success?

02/12/2018

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Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore wasted no time in declaring his nine-day ‘Khelo India’ initiative a ‘resounding success’ as soon as it ended last week. However, the inaugural edition, though eye-catching, did have its share of lapses that restricted it from having the desired outcome.

As is evident from history, at the core of most failed initiatives taken in India lies one reason - noble intentions followed by terrible executions. The Sports Ministry’s recent master plan ‘Khelo India School Games’, which was launched with an aim to bridge the sports at school level with the international level, was hardly any different.

Soon after Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore took charge of the office back in September last year, one of his first jobs was to allocate a budget of Rs. 1.756 crore for his pet initiative, for the period 2017-2020. However, the biggest challenge that Rathore knew he would face was to sell his dream to the nation and to change the perception of 130 crores Indians across 29 culturally diverse states and more importantly create a revolution.

Being an Olympic silver medallist himself, at the 2004 Games in the ‘double-trap’ shooting event, Rathore’s dream of envisaging Indian athletes at the 2024 and 2028 Games’ podium isn’t surprising either. However, the 48-year-old would also know that starting such a massive system and continuing it would not only require tons of effort and money but also administrative shrewdness and immense integrity at every level. And though Rathore’s deep involvement in his pet dream saw the initiative work out quite well holistically, it couldn’t prevent inefficiencies by officials at certain levels.

Even, to begin with, the schedule was a huge problem. Khelo India School Games (KISG) were rescheduled owing to Delhi’s pollution in the months of November and December, which came to light mostly during Sri Lanka cricket team’s tour of India. Consequently, it was postponed to February that was close to the school board exams, which saw lesser participation than expected right from the beginning.

It meant that while the National Sports Federations (NSF) prepared a fresh list of candidates others couldn’t, as many youngsters decided to give KISG a miss. It was further compounded by the mishandling by officials at various levels. The men’s 42-kg category saw only three participants in all, which guaranteed a podium finish for all the players. Khelo India CEO Sandeep Pradhan later stated that the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) didn’t have enough time to organize fresh national championships to get participants, reported PTI.

Similar instances happened in the other categories of boys’ and girls’ wrestling as well, which saw as less as 8-12 participants in total. The low turnout led KISG and WFI to sling mud at each other as the tournament was in progress. When asked Pradhan about it, he stated that both WFI and the School Games Federation of India (SGFI) stated that those were new weight categories just introduced by the international federation, and it was difficult to send participants from those categories immediately.

Inconsistency regarding the selection of athletes for grooming and scholarship created a huge inconvenience everywhere. As per the rules, 50% of the players picked from the game would go to SGFI while the rest would be divided between the NSF and the wildcard entries. The general secretary of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), Rajeev Bhatia, stated that the NRAI themselves had to choose the remaining wildcards. In boxing, same names were seen on both the SGFI and NSF that led to empty spots.

However, KISG also managed to achieve some credibility in these nine days as it proved to be the perfect platform for the athletes from humble backgrounds to showcase their mettle. 15-year-old Bhaktaram Desti from Ganjam district of Odisha, who won the gold in the weightlifting competition, is the son of farmers and has spent most of his life away from the luxury of facilities to improve his trade.

“There are very few opportunities for people coming from that part of the country. But he manages to balance his studies and training because the sports hostel and the government school where he studies are close by,” said Desti’s coach Sita Jena, reported PTI.

17-year-old Nongbam Khomba Singh of Manipal is another such example, who hails from some village far from Imphal, won the silver medal in the 60kg class boxing category. After the event, Nongbam said, “My father is a painter. He has never been a sportsperson himself but has always supported me. Whatever I am today is because of my father and my coach Shyam Chandra sir.”

The 3507 participants that took part in the ambitious event had many such examples. KISG had also assigned a talent-hunt committee to each and every event whose job was to look for two best sportspersons, who would be entitled to a Rs 5-lakh annual scholarship for eight years. This definitely comes as a huge boost for the athletes’ career, in both sport and education. Moreover, it will draw more participants for the next Khelo India editions as youngsters will choose sports over other things.

The wide range of the broadcasting of the event has also added quite a glamour to the event, which for so long had only been limited to the two-camera projection of Doordarshan. This has also played a huge motivator for athletes who were excited to prove their mettle.

“When I was young, if you had told me I was going to be on television, I would have worked extra hard. Talent in weightlifting at the junior level is present, and it surpassed my expectations. If these children are given the right opportunities, they will most certainly become champions,” said Sydney Games medallist Karnam Malleshwari, reported Scroll.

The next Khelo India event is expected to be the College Games, where the Sports Minister has claimed to inculcate athletes who didn’t get a chance to participate this time. After a semi-success of the opening event, we would only hope that things go more organized and smooth next.

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