Review: Standing Committee makes recommendations about ‘India’s Olympic Preparations’
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 20, 2021
The 2020 summer Olympics were postponed by a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic also resulted in the cancellation of many global sporting events depriving sportspersons of the much-needed experience. The standing committee of parliament recently made a slew of recommendations about India’s preparation for the Olympics. Here is a quick review of these recommendations.
The 32 Olympic Games scheduled to be held in 2020 in Tokyo, Japan had to be postponed because of COVID-19. In March 2020, the International Olympic Committee announced that both, Olympics and Paralympics, would be held on the same dates in 2021. While the Olympics are expected to take place from 23 July to 08 August 2021, the Paralympics are expected to be held from 24 August to 05 September 2021.  The Olympics torch-lighting ceremony was held behind closed doors on 12 March 2020.
With around seven months left for the Olympics to begin, the Department- Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth, and Sports submitted a report on “Preparation for Olympic Games, 2021” virtually in December 2020 to the Rajya Sabha Chairperson. Olympians, sports journalists, sports federations, and other stakeholders were consulted for drafting the report.
Mental and physical fitness of athletes amidst the pandemic should be ensured
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the committee enlisted the following few recommendations aimed at ensuring the mental and physical fitness of athletes while also ensuring they get adequate training.
Government must be swift in granting approvals and fulfilling athletes’ requirements
The committee made multiple recommendations for the government and institutions to look into.
Head coaches must conduct survey to identify equipment requirement
The human and technical resource support to be extended to the athletes as recommended by the committee include-
Athletes, coaches, and support staff going to Olympics must be prioritized for COVID-19 vaccination
With respect to medical support, the following recommendations were made by the committee.
Financial support should be ensured to athletes and coaches
Financial support, funding, and financial security related recommendations were also made by the committee.
Improper scheme implementation and slashing of fund allocation are challenges
Target Olympic Podium Scheme  (TOPS) is a flagship program of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports under which assistance is provided to top athletes in the country. Potential medal winners in the 2020/2024 Olympics are identified and special preparation is undertaken. The committee stated that the scheme is being used as a top-up program for covering discretionary expenses that cannot be funded by NSFs. The committee added that this was not acceptable and that TOPS is an independent programme and allocation should be increased for Olympics preparations. Moreover, many well-performing athletes have not been covered in the scheme which calls for formulating schemes to include those excluded.
The committee expressed its dissatisfaction with the allocations made under ‘Support to NSF’ and commented that the government is slashing the funds in Revised Estimates (RE) as compared to Budgeted allocation under ‘Support to NSF’. This would affect India’s Olympics preparation. Budgetary allocation for Scheme of Assistance to NSFs during 2019-20 was Rs. 300.85 crores (revised) and budgetary allocation during the current financial year 2020-21 is Rs. 245.00 crores.
In the long run, India must start identifying and nurturing talent from school level
The committee called for spotting talent at the school level and nurture the talent for future Olympics. India should learn from top medal-winning countries for talent spotting, training, nutritional support, etc. World-class infrastructure and facilities need to be built and maintained in India. Sportspersons and athletes should be sent abroad for getting world-class training. Even the supporting staff should be provided with the necessary training for specialization. India has so far won only 28 medals in Summer Olympics since 1900. Only one individual has won a gold medal while multiple gold medals were won in Hockey.
Featured Image: India’s Olympic Preparations