To Sports Ministry,

India is a diverse country. Be it religion, food, dressing, folk culture, language

and what not. But when it comes to sports, this diversity seems to vanish. All of
the focus seems to be on cricket. I am not of opinion that cricket should not be
supported, it is just that there are other games which are being totally ignored
while cricket is getting funding like crazy.
Lets start with our national game, hockey. We have had legends like Dhayan
Chand and Dhanraj Pillay in our country. We won 8 Olympic golds in this
game. But presently, India has almost completely vanished from the face of
international hockey. The players dont get proper training facilities, nor are
they given proper incentives. Their packages seem nil in comparison to what the
cricket players get. This is sad keeping in mind that we still have the potential to
be the best.
Same is the scenario with other games, while in some it is even worse. Players
of international status train in broken down shackles while the cricketers get to
stay at five stars wherever they go. Their pay-cheques are always delayed while
the cricketers are paid in lakhs per month. Even what they get is barely
sufficient to give themselves and their families a basic living standard.
It is now high time that something is done about all this. Its sad when a country
like ours which has the potential to be the best in every game there is, but isnt
able to do so because of pity reasons like these. The solution to all this are pretty
simple if you guys put your foot down and work towards achieving this. First
step would be to make BCCI a part a subsidiary of the Sports Ministry so that
the corruption allegations can be looked into. Surplus funds from this same
department can be transferred to other departments so that their condition can be
improved. A sports complex in every state and one national sports complex with

all latest facilities should be opened. Sports scholarships should be given to

students who perform well in sports. A system should be implemented under
which all district level sportsmen should be transferred to hostels which should
be a part of the sports complex present in each state. There, they can be trained
and groomed properly and efficiently. Their education should be made free so
that parents are not discouraged to let their children chose a career in sports. A
revised pay package in accordance to the level they play on (state, national and
international) should be implemented and should be similar for all sports.
Lastly, to cover the maximum number of people, a district level sports
competition should be organised nationwide so that no one is left out.
I hope that you take my suggestions seriously and work on the same so that one
day our country can also be on the top of the medal tally in Olympics along with
excelling in all sports internationally.

JAI HIND!

By
Abhinav Bhatia
1412101
2 BBA (F&A) A
Department of Professional Studies
Christ University, Bengaluru.