Very strangely, the media seems not much interested about the highly reputed Asian Athletics event to be held in Bhubaneswar. Out of the 45 nations, India has been able to host the big event only twice, Delhi in 1989 and Pune in 2013, the immediate previous one. Incidentally, India was given the chance for this year with Jharkhand bidding proudly to hold the show at Ranchi, but just a couple of months before the D-day, the authorities chickened out and raised hands in total surrender. Indian authorities including the top Government decision makers simply lost wits when the Naveen administration grabbed the opportunity to host the grand event with star performers from great countries like China, Japan, South Korea and the former Soviet states that have nurtured great Olympians. Tokyo, Seoul, Kuwait City, Singapore, Manila and such other mega cities with fabulous infrastructures and public behaviour reputation have remained in high esteem as desired destinations. When the biennial Asian show came to the Indian lap, the host State backed out at the eleventh hour and Odisha virtually emerged as a saviour by volunteering to take the challenge in only a matter of months. Over 1,000 athletes from 45 countries will take part in 42 disciplines, and 400 sports officials from 45 countries will be sweating out at the Kalinga Stadium during the championships between July 6 and 9, making it the biggest-ever Asian athletics show in history.
Out of absolute helplessness, the Union Government promised all support, but the real doing was to be done at Bhubaneswar, a budding city with an impeccable record, for which the urban rating judges rated the temple city as one of the fittest to be developed into a ‘Smart City’ against the odds of being a political opponent to the Centre. Coincidentally, the huge burden came crashing on a wizard – bureaucrat’s head. Vishal Dev is a rare species as he is probably the only IITian-IIMian IAS officer with an indomitable spirit who took up the challenge not under coercion by default of being the sports administration boss but by pure choice of a herculean challenge. He says he is testing the beauty of myriad nearly-insoluble problems that a courageous soldier experiences when he encounters fully armed enemy forces, himself weaponless. Vishal very surprisingly is a cool guy in head, though slugging like mad physically putting people together to convert ideas and dreams to world-class physical infrastructure and facilities. No wonder, his sense of mathematical precision and accurate calculations have made his designs failsafe and perfect on all counts. Engineering, electrical experts and the related line departments are kept physically pressed to the project 18 hours a day and dull 24 hours thinking and planning. As a result by now, the once-humble and primitive Kalinga Stadium is a wonder to see and a virtual envy of all global achievers in games and athletics. Needless to mention, Odisha is the pioneer State in sponsoring international and national hockey leagues, the only State to promote the national game in style and enviable glamour.
What hurts is the fact that the media, having been dazed by cricket, has lost track of what is happening around in the world of games and sports. Cricket stories, no matter how insignificant or rotten (because it has killed all other indigenous games), occupy all media space or time, but hockey and athletics do not even get any worthy coverage. Mediapersons can sing the names of all cricketers from the leading cricketing nations with scores and highlights but cannot name even five leading athletes or hockey players of the world or India with minimum detail of achievements. People must get around the glittering Kalinga Stadium at least once before the opening as the ground, the tracks and the gloss of the infrastructure will have been lost or reduced after massive use during the event.
It is also very heartening to know that the Naveen administration is extremely keen that the big show portrays the State in the most commendable light and projects all achievements with a view to persuading all outsiders, mainly foreigners, that the State is a cut above others on many scores, human development, ease of doing business, quality infrastructure existing and coming up, incredible places of tourist interest, fantastic healthcare, education and IT outfits to serve all categories of clients. Most importantly, the inexhaustible natural resources including rainforests make possible production of relatively inexpensive electric power to support innumerable business and industrial activities. The whole world knows that Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu and several north-eastern States are poorer than Odisha. Yet, the popular Prime Minister Modi persuades people of the world to visit Odisha should one want to see, hear, smell, taste and touch poverty. Further, Odisha is way ahead of many important States on lower IMR and MMR scores. Electrification is yet another area where Odisha beats many other big States. Corruption experienced at public offices is lower than all high-population States though not desirably contained as yet despite best efforts. As if by miraculous coincidence, the Naveen administration stood to enjoy a number of material booms, mining and consequently industrial activity, all of which gave rise to countless ancillary as well as downstream business activities creating employment to a huge number of people around. Corruption in end-user services though has not diminished as per honest surveys.
Most heartening of all facts is that the Chief Minister’s office is manned by exceptionally prudent, capable and energetic bureaucrats who help the political executive decide the best steps to bring immediate relief to the deprived communities across the State. The Naveen administration ensures that the politicians are fittingly guided to do the best things as per the rule of law. Odisha, therefore, is among the least crime-ridden and violent societies of the country.
The Information and Public Relations Department is working day in and day out to create the right publicity stuff that is both appealing and believable for distributing among the people who come together to make the Asian event a grand success. The objective, as told by the authorities, is to please, provoke and persuade all that appear at the grand event to speak about Odisha as a preferred global destination for many benefits as told.
Nearly 44 years ago, the first Asian Athletics Championships were held in 1973 at the Rodriguez Sports Centre in Marikina Metro of Manila, Philippines between November 18 and 23.
The big event had courted controversy for barring of Israel from participation in 1977. That edition of the competition was cancelled by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), and the championships between 1979 and 1989 were regarded unofficial and called the "Asian Track and Field Meeting". The situation was resolved when Israel was allowed to compete in European events as the Asians had ignored it. The championships will also serve as a qualifying event for this year's IAAF World Championships to be held in london in August.
The multipurpose Kalinga Stadium now flaunts a newly-laid all-weather synthetic track equipped with floodlights and a state-of-the-art warm-up area to make it a world-class training facility in the span of a little over two months. The wizard sports administrator has proven his mettle as a rare performer who has traded food, sleep and family as well as social life to attain the respectable objective of Odisha. The State Government has left no stone unturned to make the event truly world-class as per the IAAF standards by putting everything together in a record time of 90 days. The State's commitment to promote sports, tourism and industry is proven beyond doubt, no matter what bitter critics spew by way of venom to undermine best results.
An excitedly buoyant Naveen Patnaik says, "The Asian Athletics event will offer great opportunity to Odia athletes to compete with the best sportspersons in the world. This mega event will definitely help in raising the profile of the State in the field of sports."
Olympian Dutee Chand, who won 100m gold at the recently-concluded Federation Cup at Patiala, says, "The Kalinga Stadium is my nursery. I am eagerly waiting to run on the tracks on which my sporting career had begun.”
Odisha indeed is beginning to shine better than ever before.
(The writer is a core member of Transparency International, Odisha)