Kolkata: India’s dismal show at the Rio Olympics last year seems to have raised an alarm. And the Central Government looks sincere enough to ensure that the country does better in future international events. As a part of its programme looking ahead, the sports ministry will launch a web portal to hunt for talented sports persons who can be trained and groomed.
“We will soon launch a sports talent hunt portal to find out talented sportsmen from across the country. We will provide them training as well as scholarships,” sports minister Vijay Goel was quoted in a PIB release, reports PTI.
Speaking to media persons at Gandhinagar yesterday, Goel informed the central government was committed to encourage a culture of sports in the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had envisioned setting up of a task force for grooming sports persons for the 2020, 2024 and 2028 Olympics in August last year. Goel said that such task forces had already been created with an eye on the 2020 Olympics.
Hindustan Times reports that before becoming the Prime Minister, Modi had once said in a speech at Ferguson College, Pune, “During Olympics, people often say despite its huge size, we don’t get medals. Have we linked sports with our education system? Did we give enough opportunity to our youth…? Believe me if you give our defence forces this responsibility and match the potential of the new recruits in the interested sports and then train them properly, we will earn 5-7 medals even without much efforts. It requires vision!” And it is this vision that has egged him on to seriously look into areas that needed attention for the future of sports in India.
The web portal is one step ahead in that direction and hopefully, we will see a host of talented athletes representing the country in the future and also bringing laurels to India.