Shaping Sports Infrastructure —- Visible

Earlier, the contribution of sportspersons in J&K used to be an utter waste because of just minimal infrastructure in place, and no recognition, or encouragement from the Government. There have been several cases where the best athletes from Kashmir used to run from pillar to post in search of a job to make their ends meet, or used to do odd jobs at the stadiums or the concerned offices. How pathetic and shameful that was not only for the department but the Government as well. With time, what was witnessed was that people turned out to be quite reluctant in pursuing sports as a career option because it was a hollow, carrying nothing.

While the J&K Sports Policy-2022 is in the nascent stage, we have already seen a change on the ground as over the last few years now, the athletes are being recognized, and awarded for achieving milestones. The latest example could be Faisal Ali Dar from Bandipora who has been conferred with Padma Shri in the Sports category. Apart from him, we have seen several other athletes shining on various other platforms, globally, making their contributions duly recognized.

The sports policy which the Government has brought in—to revolutionize the sphere—has got various salient features that if implemented in letter and spirit would ensure the overall development of the sports at the grassroots. The policy focuses on identifying the talent very early and keeping the necessary infrastructure in place so that they could be trained and pushed further. The landmark policy also underlines the need for keeping the identified talent engaged, which, so far, has remained missing from the scene. It is the engagement part, which is more important and needs to be implemented effectively.

The extra care under the policy has been given to the factor of recognition, which can also be termed as the backbone of the sports sector anywhere in the world. If the athletes are giving the field their blood and sweat, they should get something back and that factor has been duly noted in the policy which pitches for acknowledging the achievements and contributions through awards and further employment.

Apart from following the pyramid structure for the sports to grow leaps and bounds in J&K, the policy envisages a collaborative approach towards working for putting in place better and sustainable sports infrastructure by providing all the stakeholders with the necessary roadmap on how to approach the problem and how to execute the policy decisions on the ground for the greater good. While this collaborative approach has remained missing from the overall seen so far, there is a hope that it would finally start working, showing results, beginning from the fields.