It all began with cricket and the Indian Premier League in 2008. The terrific success of IPL and the millions it raised in sponsorships spawned similar creatures in other sports such as the Indian Soccer League, Hockey India League and Pro Kabaddi League. Add to these now, a table tennis and a martial arts league. Of course, not all sports may be able to boast of the same levels of success as cricket’s IPL. A couple, such as the Champions Tennis League and the Pro Wrestling League, ran into trouble with the former giving way to the Indian Premier Tennis League but the the larger story still remains valid: private capital is now bankrolling sports development in the country.
This would have been cause for tremendous satisfaction if not for the fact that the Government, which has a critical role to play in sports development, has reduced itself to the position of a spectator. There are certain things that only public investment can do, such as investing in stadiums and practice facilities, and promoting sports that do not attract private capital. A National Sports Policy was formulated in 2001 with two objectives: promotion of excellence and broad-basing of sports, which is an acknowledgement of the predominance of cricket at the cost of every other sport. Yet a quick run-through of the allocation to sports in the Union Budget over the years would show how little importance is being attached to an activity that is integral to the development of not just an individual’s personality but also of the nation. The Sports Authority of India was allocated ₹481 crore in the latest budget and ₹438.20 crore and ₹407.96 crore in 2016-17 and 2015-16 respectively. Importantly, this money is classified as revenue expenditure, which means that it goes only to maintain existing facilities and paying salaries. The National Sports Federations were allocated ₹302.18 crore but even this was spent on organising events and camps, and participation in events abroad. The capital outlay for “education, sports, arts and culture” was a piffling ₹6.10 crore in the latest budget, which, by the way, is a huge improvement over the ₹1.35 crore last year.
The short point is that there is little public investment in creating infrastructure for sport. That it is a state subject has only made matters more difficult because there is only so much the Centre can do to persuade States. At a broader level, we, as a country, have failed to give sport its due as an integral part of an individual’s development right from school and through college. The problem begins there.