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I had an opportunity recently to attend a high level meeting with top government officials and NGOs where the issue of making available nutritious food to school children beyond the existing Mid-day Meal Programme was discussed. There I had suggested that our sports stars, especially our much sought-after cricketers, should be drafted in by the government to publicize nutritional programmes which are targeted towards children.
To illustrate my point, I told them that a sports icon like Sachin Tendulkar, who advertises all types of carbonated drinks and packaged foods on TV, has never been seen calling upon the children of our country to drink milk daily if they want to become a successful cricketer like him. To this remark, the government officials present there responded by saying that sports stars like Tendulkar are very expensive and that the government cannot afford to get them for producing such advertisements, unlike in the case of rich multinational companies who hire them at exorbitant cost to endorse their products.
This came as a shocking revelation to me. Under the existing laws, even the MNCs are obliged to spend a portion of their profit for the benefit of the society under the social responsibility initiative. While the MNCs from abroad are ready to oblige the Indian society, India’s own sports stars are not ready to do social service unless they are paid exorbitant endorsement and appearance fees!
The government has chosen to remain a mute spectator on this issue, allowing the sports stars to go scot-free. While the government cannot under the law compel sports stars to show compassion and commitment to social causes, it has the prerogative not to consider such sports stars for national awards like Padma awards and Bharat Ratna, which are given to persons as acknowledgement for their exemplary service to the society and to nation-building.
If a sports star is not ready to appear on behalf of the government in a TV advertisement free of cost for a simple cause like calling upon children to drink milk for better health or for child immunization programmes, the government need not milk such holy cows, but can at least keep them away from national awards.
Considering the vast reach of national communication portals like AIR and DD, the IB Ministry should demand time from sports stars free of cost for advertising health and nutritional programmes or any other programmes which are targeted to children, especially since we know that children can be mesmerized by sports stars without reason. Such sports stars can be asked to devote a couple of days in a year during their off-season to oblige the government in this regard. That is how they should qualify for national awards.
For achievements in the sports field they have the Arjun Puraskar and Khel Ratna to grab. But in the check list for national awards, sports stars’ social service should be given due importance along with their sports achievements.
