Sham of a Budget!

Only Lip-Service For Sports

It has become pretty obvious that for all its tall claims of going all-out to give the much-needed impetus to sports and ensure that the country would be on the right path to achieving global glory, the Narendra Modi-led Union Government is only indulging in lip-service, at best.

There were lots of expectations that the Union Budget 2016-17 that was presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday would give the long-awaited boost by way of enhanced budgetary allocations.

Alas, the sports fraternity is left seething with rage at the pittance that has been ‘gifted’ by the self-styled promoters, who ‘magnanimously’ enhanced the provision from Rs 1,541.13 crore to Rs 1,592 crore, which translates to a ‘generous’ Rs 50.87 crore increase from the 2014-15 Budget.

It spells disaster as far as sports are concerned. To make matters worse, allocation for Benefit of North Eastern Area scheme has been reduced to Rs 144.98 crore from Rs 150.23 crore while Sports Authority of India (SAI) has been provided with an increase of Rs 11.91 crore.

Taken from any angle it becomes increasingly clear that the Sports Minister has not reminded the Finance Ministry that this is a particularly critical and crucial year for sportspersons from almost every discipline. That all athletes are giving their best shot at making it to Rio Olympics later in the year is all well known.

But Monday’s bolt from the blue would have dashed the hopes of athletes, coaches and administrators, who all look up to governmental support to make the trip happen. That there has been no substantial increase in the allocations speaks poorly about the government’s seriousness about ringing in a sports culture.

This comes in shameful contrast to how China and South Korea promote sports and get the desired results in championships that matter. One wonders if schemes like TOPP will be able to survive post-Rio considering that the coffers would be empty once the Summer Games are done and over with.

It is quite possible that the custodians are aware that private bodies like Olympic Gold Quest and the Jindal Foundation will rise to the occasion and take ‘adopt’ the identified beneficiaries. Should some individuals have podium finishes, then their respective State Governments will reward them with loads of cash.

One cannot blame the Union Government if such atrocious pretexts are on their minds when they get into sports arithmetic. If anything the latest Budget indicates that there is no genuine sports promoter around although an Olympic silver medallist sits comfortably in the Council of Ministers.

It is because of such pathetic treatments that the clout of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) gets enlarged. Despite the absence of any governmental support, or perhaps because it is an entity that is not dictated by the whims and fancies of the babudom, they rule over the masses, the myriad controversies notwithstanding.