This was a humble appeal by Maharashtra Badminton Association (MBA) president Arun Lakhani to state chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and sports minister Vinod Tawde here on Tuesday.
"Fortunately sirs, we are not asking for any money. What we are asking is to put to use the money already spent by way of partnering with sports associations."
This was a humble appeal by Maharashtra Badminton Association (MBA) president Arun Lakhani to state chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and sports minister Vinod Tawde here on Tuesday.
Lakhani was addressing a strong audience of mostly badminton administrators and players from across the state at a felicitation function to honour Rio Games silver medallist PV Sindhu and her guru Pullela Gopichand at a posh south Mumbai hotel.
Lakhani also appealed to Fadnavis and Tawde to make a budget for maintenance of the facilities that otherwise "lie in neglect, in dilapidated condition and are partially used".
Praising to the skies the efforts of Gopichand in producing two Olympic medallists in successive Games, Lakhani said: "sports facilities should be entrusted with such people or associations with passion. It is not a 10 am to 5 pm job as it needs more than that."
He felt that that the sports complexes in the state were built to help players, but the very purposes is defeated. A solution to revive the same, Lakhani suggested to Fadnavis and Tawde, was "by partnering with association who do not have the infrastructure but have a lot of passion" in order to have world-class academies in the state so that more Sindhus would emerge.
"We as MBA can take up the challenge and set up self-sustaining model with government so as to keep these large facilities running round the year for sports," Lakhani, who took over as MBA president in October 2015, added.
Taking note of Lakhani's appeal, Tawde said that he was left thinking after a chat with Rio Olympics shooter from the state Ayonika Paul. Tawde said: "I had a chat with Ayonika Paul recently and she said she went to Balewadi Sports Complex (in Pune) from Chembur daily and come back at night. She said that Balewadi Sports Complex closes at 9pm. She went on, 'If I have to play in Rio, I have to adjust my body by training accordingly. That meant I'd be sleeping during the day and training at night. How can I train when Balewadi Sports Complex closes by 9pm?'"
Tawde continued: "When the sportspersons travel, they get jeg lagged. If they have to concentrate on their sport, their body should support. Maharashtra government will do what is expected of it to provide the best to its athletes."
Tawde also said that the support should be provided to sportspersons when they break into the national level and not recognised after winning Olympic medals.
The sports minister said: "we felicitate sportspersons after they win Olympic medals. I feel the recognition should start when they are school selecting their sport. Guiding them at that moment is very crucial.
"Then comes the support at the national level when they need maximum support. I am sorry to say that we all wake up when they win Olympic medal. If we helped them at an earlier level, today, Sindhu would have won an Olympic gold."
Tawde also said that the cash awards that are being presented to medal winners should be split into two. "One half should go to the sportsperson's account and the other half to the sport in which they excel and the facility be named after him or her."
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