The Government plays a major role in promoting and developing sports in a country. The Government and Governmental organizations constitute the Public Sector of the sports industry which is responsible for making sports policies, allocating funds for developing infrastructure, nurturing talents, designing specialized programmes like dope control etc. The Planning Commission of India estimates that the country will be the home of approximately 510 million people of the age group of 15 to 35 years by 2016. The role of Government, therefore, is extremely important in providing participation opportunities to the youth of India for the overall development of sports.
1982 was a landmark year in Indian sports when India organized the Asian Games. Prior to 1982, hardly any emphasis had been given to sports in Public Policies. Funds had been allocated to sports in different Five Year Plans, mainly for building infrastructure and nurturing talents at the grass root level.
| Five Year Plans | Thrust Areas |
| 2nd Five Year Plan | Developing sports infrastructure |
| 3rd Five Year Plan | Grass root developmental activities |
| 4th Five Year Plan | Grass root developmental activities |
| 5th Five Year Plan | Carried forward the initiatives of 4th Five Year Plan |
| 6th Five Year Plan | Selecting and nurturing young sporting talents across the country |
| 7th Five Year Plan | Building sports infrastructure at the grass root level |
| 8th Five Year Plan | Consolidating the initiatives adopted in the 7th Five Year Plan by introducing a number of schemes, such as Special Area Games (SAG), Sports Project Development Area Centres (SPDA etc.) |
| 9th Five Year Plan | Developing sports talents |
| 10th Five Year Plan | Making the Comprehensive Sports Policy with three main objectives: “Sports for All”, “Excellence in Sports” and “Contingent Constitutional, Legal and Institutional measures to implement the policy”. |
An increase in allocation of funds for Sports in different Five Year Plans can be observed from the following table:
| Five Year Plans | Allocation (INR million) |
| Sixth Five Year Plan (1980- 1985) | 270 |
| Seventh Five Year Plan (1985- 1989) | 2,070 |
| Eighth Five Year Plan (1992-1997) | 2,100 |
| Ninth Five Year Plan (1997- 2002) | 4,730 |
| Tenth Five Year Plan (2002- 2007) | 11,450 |
| Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012) | 46,360 |
In spite of a significant increase in the allocation of fund, it is important to note that not more than one percent of total budget is allocated to sports. Hence, there is a scope of improvement in terms of fund allocation for the promotion and development of sports in this country.
Considering the developmental aspect of sports, the Panchyat Yuva Krida Aur Khel Abhiyan (PYKKA) had been introduced to generate sports culture at the grass root level. The objectives of the scheme are to provide sports infrastructure/ equipments at the Panchyat level and to encourage youth in rural areas to participate in sports. Various competitions are organized from block level to national level to achieve these objectives. Rs. 1,500 crore has been approved by the Planning Commission for this project in the 11th Five Year Plan and a budgetary allocation of Rs. 92 crore was provided in the scheme for 2008-09 while Rs. 160 crore was provided for 2009-10.
The effectiveness of these initiatives should be evaluated on the basis of the success of Indian athletes at the international level. It is relevant to mention that the result is not enough convincing. Therefore, a few recommendations can be made for making the system more effective.
Recommendations
i) The allocation of funds to sport, as a percentage of budget, can be increased for broad-basing sports in this country.
ii) Periodic evaluation of various projects initiated by the Government and Governmental organizations for making those initiatives more effective.
iii) Integration of sports with education to introduce sports culture in India.
iv) Sports is a state subject and therefore uniformity in sports specific activities of various states in India is extremely important for providing equal sporting opportunities to all the citizens of the country.
v) A structure of good governance should be incorporated to make the system transparent and accountable.
Sepp Blatter, the President of FIFA, once said that India is a sleeping giant in football. The same is applicable for any other discipline of sports. Considering the social impact of sports and the enormous potential of this country, we may expect that the Government will play a pro-active role in making India a sporting nation.
Ankan Banerjee
Lecturer, Naval Tata Centre of Excellence in Sports Management of
Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management
