Back in 2016, PM Modi made a task force to ensure world-class facilities for athletes. The result has been great

After the downfall of the Rio Olympics where India managed to win only two medals (One silver, one bronze), Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016 constituted a task force to prepare an action plan for the next three Olympics Games viz. Tokyo 2020, Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028. While the Tokyo edition was delayed by a year, India managed to bring its most impressive haul in the games by winning seven medals, including its first gold in over 13 years.

The task force aimed to prepare a strategy for the improvement of the facilities, selection norms, and better training facilities. The task force includes the likes of national badminton coach Pulella Gopichand, Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, former India hockey captain Viren Rasquinha, among other foreign experts.

The task force has already submitted a comprehensive report on creating a sporting culture in India. It was on the advice of the Olympic Taskforce that the Empowered Steering Committee (ESC) was constituted in September 2017. ESC can recommend names of national and international training institutions for the empanelment for providing training, coaching and other support to TOPS (Target Olympic Podium Scheme) athletes, including negotiated packages.

As reported by TFI , based on the findings of the task force, the government has spent Rs 1,200 crore alone on athletes according to the Sports Authority of India (SAI). Through the Annual Calendar for Training and Competition (ACTC) and TOPS, the two flagship government sports schemes, aimed at nurturing and polishing the Olympic dreams of the country, the government has ensured that athletes and their training are well-taken care of. Both the schemes have gone through several key changes throughout, based on the advice of the task force and the ESC.

Read More: 7 medals at Olympics- How Modi government is empowering India’s athletes

However, the biggest development towards the improvement of the sporting scene in India has come through the “Khelo India” programme. The official website of the programme states that it has been introduced to “revive the sports culture in India at the grass-root level by building a strong framework for all sports played in our country and establish India as a great sporting nation.”

The programme has been working wonders for India. It was launched with a budget of Rs. 97.52 crore. By the Financial Year 2020, it went through a nine-fold increase and reached a whopping Rs. 890.92 crore.

PM Modi — a visionary

PM Modi in one of his speeches, before assuming the PM chair had remarked that bringing 5-7 medals was not a remote dream. Incidentally, 7 years into his tenure, the country has bested its medal haul of London and brought 7 medals.

“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 recruits in the interested sports and then train them properly, we will earn 5-7 medals even without much effort. It requires vision!” he had said in his speech at Ferguson College, Pune.

When the country’s top leader has a vision and takes an active role in assessing the condition of its players, one can be assured that India will be breaching the 20 medals mark as laid down by the Olympics task force, come LA Olympics.