Country’s sports administration needs revamp
The suicide pact controversy at the Sports Authority of India's Alappuzha centre in Kerala needs to be resolved at two levels. In the immediate aftermath, the authorities must ensure that the three surviving athletes get proper medical care while they are in the hospital and also adequate therapy and institutional support afterwards. Traumatised and fragile, they should not have to run from pillar to post for assistance, as is often the case once the media attention fades away. Also, a thorough inquiry needs to be conducted, so that the many unanswered questions as well as the allegations of abuse that have been flying thick and fast, can be clarified at the earliest. As of now, we know that all four athletes had bright careers ahead of them. Fifteen-year-old Aparna Ramachandran, who died on Friday, is reported to have been an especially promising rising star.
Why then did the youngsters, who should have been full of hope and strength, take this dire stepIJ Their purported suicide note points fingers at bullying seniors, while family members of the deceased have alleged that the girls had been abused by their coach. But was any of this severe enough to push the four young athletes to suicideIJ Are we sure that there was no foul play involvedIJ The Government inquiry and the police investigation that are currently underway should provide some closure. If any SAI official is found to have caused undue stress or been guilty of misconduct, he or she must be brought to justice. In 2014 alone, there were at least three such cases: At the Kandivali training centre in February, a coach was arrested for allegedly molesting a trainee; at the Takyelpat centre in August, another was suspended for sexual misconduct; and in November, the services of a medical consultant were terminated after he illegally conducted a pregnancy test on a boxer.
At the second level, the sports authority needs to look at long-term improvements in facilities and training, so that young athletes do not feel uncared for. There has been a persistent complaint over the years, and across centres and disciplines, that the SAI simply does not do enough for its trainees. In its defence, the SAI may point to its long list of achievers, but most of them have done well despite the sports body, and not due to the stellar support the SAI supposedly offers. Forget about state-of-the-art training facilities, world-class coaches and a battery of physiotherapists, most SAI centres do not even have clean and comfortable living quarters. There have been reports of rotten food being served in the past and athletes being denied basic equipment. The situation has improved somewhat after the 2010 Commonwealth Games, which forced an overhaul of India's entire sporting infrastructure — for example, the Kolkata centre has upgraded its archery targets and the Bhalgarh centre is getting air-conditioned hostels. But there's a lot more that needs to be done.