TOPS continues to overpay established stars, and a BOTTOMS plan is what indian sports requires .
The Asian Games results once again exposed the overhyped TOPS flagship scheme of India’s sports authorities.
According to official sources, the government spent 9784 crores under the TOPS. Only two percent of it translated into gold medals this time.
How can the authorities and federations that work on this together reduce the scheme’s effectiveness to two percent? Obviously, they are far from the reality in their choice of sportspersons who deserve the benefit.
Take, for example, some of our best results from the current Asian Games. Teenager Kumkum Mohod arguably won India’s biggest individual gold, yet she was not included in the TOPS scheme, exposing the people involved.
Neeru Dhanda, who was made our flagbearer for the closing ceremony for winning a gold in trap shooting, remains outside the TOPS scheme.
These are only some of the massive glitches in an overhyped scheme.
Everyone knows the base of any activity is more important than the top. American sports have shown the way by investing in the world’s best coaches being employed in schools and colleges, and the results are there for everyone to see. Schools and colleges are producing not only world champions but world record holders, yet the government does not pay athletes any TOP grant.
Indian sports authorities continue to ignore our schools and colleges. In fact, they pay lip service by organizing Khelo India sports, which is a repeat of what already exists, rather than giving schools or colleges any input or outstanding coaches. India has talent on par with top nations, but we must give our schools the best coaches; that’s all. No TOP grant will be needed.
Take, for example, athletics: you just need, say, a world-class sprints-and-jumps coach in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka; a long-distance running coach in Uttarakhand, Himachal, and Kashmir; and a throws coach in Punjab and Haryana.
That’s it, and the cost will be a maximum of 100 crores. Results will be tens of Gulveers, Ancy Sojans, Tejaswin Shankars, and Vithya Ramrajs. Elementary thinking, not rocket science. Is anyone listening? Action must start now.
Our honorable Prime Minister said the same in his Independence Day speech; where is the action?
All the best, India.
Note: 9784 crore is equivalent to 1.014 billion U.S. dollars.9784 crore is 97.34 billion Indian Rupees (INR).
One crore equals $10 million US dollars.
