Not bothered over poor performance in the Rio Olympics, the Odisha Government has once again initiated action and will be actively coordinating with the Union Government to formulate a comprehensive development programme for the sportspersons to compete in next three Olympic Games in 2020, 2024 and 2028.
Sports and Youth Affairs Secretary Vishal Dev is in continuous touch with Union Sports Secretary Injeti Srinivas, who is supporting the State to promote the sportspersons of Odisha for international sports. Srinivas is an Odisha cadre IAS officer, who is at the helm of sports promotion in the country.
With the Olympic Task Force (OTF) preparing the comprehensive plan for next three Olympics games, the State Government is taking keen interest in the matter. As the eight-member OTF will be coming to Odisha soon to conduct consultations with the stakeholders, Dev is making arrangements for the meet as the State Government is determined to promote the budding sportspersons for the next three Olympics.
In the Rio Olympics, two sprinters and four hockey players participated and the State Government announced to pay Rs 10 lakh each to the sportspersons for their moral boost. Though the sportspersons could not become successful in bringing in any medal, while India bagged only two medals in the Rio Olympics, Odisha is not losing hearts.
Sports and Youth Affairs Secretary Dev is the nodal officer for such an initiative and he is coordinating the entire exercise to help out the OTF in formulating short, medium and long term plan for effective participation of the sportspersons of the country in forthcoming Olympic games.
In the meantime, Union Secretary Srinivas has urged the State Government to involve elite sportspersons, sports bodies, educational institutions, elite coaches, sports colleges, sports officers, Principals of physical education colleges, besides the Education Secretary, the Director Sports and other relevant top officials for consultations and way to move forward, said sources.
Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi is taking a lot of interest in promoting sportspersons for the next Olympics and accordingly, has directed the Department of Sports and Youth Affairs to prepare the base paper for such deliberations, said sources.
The Task Force will be submitting the report on comprehensive plan for promoting sportspersons for next three Olympics, while conducting a national dialogue with all the stakeholders.
While the State is lacking basic infrastructure for the sportspersons to compete in international event, creating and upgrading the infrastructure and providing proper training to the sportspersons is the focus, said a senior official in the Directorate of Sports.
In order to participate in the Olympics, international exposure and training in the foreign countries is necessary to build up confidence. So such an arrangement is needed to be worked out with the support of the Department of Sports in the Government of India. And most importantly, effective talent identification is needed for 2024 and 2028, said sources.
The OTF prescriptions will be the guiding factor for promoting sportspersons for next three Olympic games, sources added.