India after CWG !!

I have rambled a lot in this blog, but I had to write.

An amazing CWG we've had over the past 10 days with Indian players performing exceedingly well. 101 Medals in all with 38 Gold Medals, WOW ! A brilliant opening ceremony and complimenting that a fabulous closing ceremony. Some superb surprises came in the form of Women's 4X400 Relay Gold, Women's Discuss 1-2-3 win, Medal in gymnastics, Shuttlers performing superbly (Saina, Jwala, everyone), TT medals, Tennis Gold for Somdev and Silver for Sania, Domination in Archery, Shooting, Wrestling. Sad that Vijender Singh couldn't not win the gold, whatever the reason be. In short, each and every athlete needs to be praised for their efforts and accomplishments.

But, lets look at the broader picture now, INDIA after the CWG !

I briefly want to touch upon a few points which need to be taken care of asap by the authorities.

1. Not even an hour has passed after the closing ceremony of the CWG, we have all the credit hungry politicians surfacing out of no where for a cat/dog fight. Each and every single politician is claiming that the credit should be given to them. Guys, don't you think its the players who deserve the credit. Delhi CM Mrs Dixit says that the credit is their for the way they transformed the Games Village in the few weeks before the games started, my question is "Why was a mess created at first". By resurrecting the village to the desired standards, you just saved your ass. The great man Mr Kalmadi, was actually booooed by the whole crowd during his speech whenever he thanked the OC and IOA. I just hope with the success of the games, the government doesn't forget the fraud and money laundering that he has done. All people accountable for corruption should be taken to task on priority basis starting from tomorrow. No doubt that the state government, police authorities, etc need to be lauded. But first you should have the heart to applaud and commend the athletes, their coaches, their support staff and everyone who have toiled hard behind these athletes whose efforts and achievements have got glory to the nation.
   
   
2. Proper facilities should be given to the players for their training and practice. All these stadiums should be used in the correct manner for all these athletes to shape them up for the future games like the Asiad or the Olympics. We should have a proper rapport between the individual sports associations and the players and also the government. The association heads should respect the players due to which they have got the glory now. For Eg : The president of the Badminton Assn of India, didnt even wish Jwala Gutta after she won the doubles Gold. A total of Rs 600 cr was allotted 4 years back for the training of the athletes for all different sports for this CWG, out of which the authorities still had Rs 500Cr in hand till March 2010 whereas the shuttlers couldn't import shuttle cocks in time for their practice. Rifles and ammo was not imported when the shooters asked for. Many places where the money should have been wisely used have not been done so.
   
   
   
3. Thirdly, the government have gone ahead and declared handsome cash prize for all the medal winners. These athletes need RESPECT along with the cash prize. What we need is a program for all these athletes and players representing India so that they can avail anything which will help them get better in their sport. Also, what I would like is that the government should give these national and international level athletes some kind of a secured future. Majority of the medal winners and athletes who represent India come from not so financially stable background. They need to be given some kind of a job security in the public sector for their future once they retire. There has been a case where a national level winner is selling his medals for money.Sad but true !
   
   
4. Lastly, we should also be lauding these athletes in future even if they maintain their winning streak or no. The plight of these athletes few years from now shouldn't be a common man like us waiting to get all their things done and struggling with the babus to get their work done. We should see to it that these athletes are not one of those forgotten heroes. Someone representing the country should definitely get more RESPECT and HONOR than someone who plays the IPL for money.

I know we need to look at the positives out of this CWG, but the above points just helps us with a reality check and tells us that its time to put our mind and energy in the right direction for the betterment of Indian Sports.

For us to become a sporting nation apart from Cricketing nation, children right from school need to be encouraged about their interests in other sports. The school authorities along with the HRD ministry and the other government agencies should bring about a change for the betterment of Indian Sports !