Development is a complicated exercise. And development of a country of the size of India is still much more complicated. Many things go together into making development successful. Availability of funds is the prerequisite but having achieved that capability, other equally important factors have to be taken into account. Development means planning and planning means collective wisdom and application. Blind imitation is not planning; improvement according to the needs is planning. About Japanese it is said that they are good at copying but better at improving and innovating. In this age of high tech and innovations, advanced nations strive for new inventions that have relevance to contemporary life.
It is sad to say that in our country in general and the State in particular, we lack the urge for innovation and originality. We want to move forward and enter the new age of technological advancement but we do not understand that those who have driven their countries to the heights of technological perfection have done so after spending lot of energy in planning what they want to do and how they do it. We in the State lack that urge and that initiative. The result is that our resources are squandered and wasted without achieving anything.
The case in point is of how the State is handling the most cherished and liked activity called sports. There is no need for speaking at length about the tremendous interests that our youth, males as well as females, are evincing in sports and athletics. Perhaps this activity is much more interesting for the youth than any other. Just observe how the people, young, old, men and women are glued to their televisions and transistors when some sports of national or international level like Test Cricket, Tennis, World Cup Football or Hockey etc. are played and players of legendary fame are contesting. It is a rare occasion in one’s life to watch the celebrities performing on the ground. The simple inference any watcher draws after watching the great players engaged in contest is that what a potential lies hidden in human beings which when unleashed becomes an art of greatest impact.
Each country in the world and each people want that they should produce sports celebrities to be reckoned among the great of the world. But these celebrities are not thrown up just by wishful thinking. The States have to invest in them just as we invest in some plan or scheme and then at its proper time we have the pleasure of having its result. Likewise, the State needs to invest in sports and athletics, of course in all of their branches, to nurture the talent that remains hidden. For this purpose, we have to follow the policy of “catch them young”. The hunt for talent has to be made in both urban and rural areas of the State. Incentives have to be provided, proper coaching has to be done, excellence levels have to be fixed and perhaps much more has to be done.
The Government is seized of the entire issue and is keen that our youth should be inculcated with the spirit of loving and taking active part in sports and athletics. The recognized practice all over the world is that the fundamental requirement to achieve the objective is to have the stadia that respond to all needs of sportsmen and athletes. Sports stadium in modern times is a comprehensive complex for which standardized planning is done according to the needs like availability of the space, expected number of spectators, residential quarters for the sportsmen/women, athletes, staff, trainers etc. All this needs discrete and sensible planning and not haphazard approach that will result in the waste of money invested. We have the examples of Bana Singh Stadium in R.S. Pura that was started sometime in 2010 and then after zealous start, it degenerated into complacence and was left halfway so much so that the ground has now shrunk to a kabbadi playing arena and nothing more. How much money has been wasted and how much enthusiastic spirit has been dissipated. The youth, who would have produced champions from among them, have been wantonly deprived of their urges for excellence. This all has happened owing to incompetence and wasteful planning. If a team of national level planners had been invited to visit the spot and prepare the blue print and then the plan was submitted to an expert committee for opinion and inspection on spot, the stadium would not have met with the fate that has befallen it.
Almost the same is the case with the Subhash Stadium at Udhampur. The location of this stadium is very attractive and the space is quite satisfactory. But again the bane is of proper planning and execution. In both things, the stadium is deficient. A staircase collapsed while the construction was going on and the inquiry held showed that either incompetent engineering or sub-standard material used in the staircase could be the reason for its collapse. With that the construction work stopped and the project which was expected to be a source of great impetus to the youth remains incomplete. Reports are that the Central Government has sanctioned rupees 200 crore for improvement of two stadia in Srinagar and Jammu and also upgrading of stadia on district level wherever these have been constructed. We welcome the interest shown by the Union Government but we have serious reservations. If the conditions obtaining at the two stadia at R. S. Pura and Udhampur, as detailed above, are allowed becoming the fate of other stadia, it will be a sad commentary on our competence and planning. The concerned department of the State Government should constitute a team of experts with participation from well known authorities outside the State who will assist in planning new stadia, improving and upgrading the existing ones, and also give their opinion how auxiliary activities and pre-requisites of taking sports industry in the State to a respectable level should be carried forward. Nothing should be done in haphazard manner. Equally important is that talent should be searched for and identified and then groomed properly. Facilities for their stay, training, medicare etc. should form the essential component of sports promotion effort. The Stadia have to be maintained on regular basis and round the year. It also needs planning.
In short, we have the talent but we need to identify it in urban as well as rural areas. We need stadia not only in the capital cities but in district headquarters also. We need a committee of technical experts to suggest planning and execution of the project for developing sports and athletics in the State.
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