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What's the story?
Earlier this week, Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore stated in Parliament that the central government spends a total of 3 paise (Rs 0.03) per day per capita on sports. During a discussion on sports as a career in the Lok Sabha, Rathore said that the total amount spent in 2017-18 by the Department of Sports was Rs 1393.21 crore.
He said, "As per figures of the Census 2011, the population of India is 121 crore. Thus, per capita per day spend of the outlay of the department of sports of this ministry alone is around 3 paise."
In case you didn't know
Rathore was appointed the Sports Minister in a landmark move in September last year, which made him the first athlete to hold the position.
It has been a little over four months since his tenure began and in this short period, he has started a number of programs and schemes, such as the Khelo India Games, to help develop sport in the country.
The heart of the matter
The sum, however, includes neither the spending by state governments on sports programmes nor the money spent by corporates through CSR activities.
However, if one compares it to China, which is by far the highest public spender on sports, there is still a huge gap. According to a report in newspaper China Daily, the Chinese government spends 316.5 billion yuan annually on sport, which translates to roughly Rs 3 lakh crore and Rs 6.1 per capita per day, almost 200 times more than it's Indian counterpart.
What's next?
India still has a long way to go when it comes to matching powerhouses like China and what is also important is the effective utilization of the funds, along with their allocation.
Author's take
It is certainly good to see sport being discussed in the Parliament and one hopes that the increased spending leads to better results and development of sport in the country.
