VIJAY Kumar Malhotra, Suresh Kalmadi, Sharad Pawar, Arun Jaitley, Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, V C Shukla, B Adityan, Jagdish Tytler, Vidya Stokes, K P Singh Deo, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Digvijay Singh, Yashwant Sinha, Abhay Chautala, Ajay Chautala . . . These are not just names of politicians, whose statements on the political affairs of the country we read so often in newspapers and whose faces are frequently seen on television sets. There is something common that binds the above persons. They have all been actively involved in the running of various sports federations in the country for a long time.

But the question remains, has Indian sport shown even one per cent of improvement ever since these politicians took over the reins of some of these sports federations? The answer sadly is a big NO. India still continues to languish at the bottom of most sports disciplines when it comes to international competitions. From athletics to football, from volleyball to basketball, from archery to judo, from cycling to table tennis, from boxing to rowing, India has not shown any progress in the last decade or so in terms of world rankings. If the main reason for politicians entering sports federations was to improve its standard and give sportsmen better facilities, it has not happened the way it was expected.

For some odd reasons, sports federations in the country continue to be in the clutches  of politicians, who have done more harm to the sport than giving it a better image. Several hard-core politicians have only managed to pollute sports federations because most of them have used these sports federations as a launching pad for their political gains.

Let us take some of the major disciplines in the country which are headed by leading politicians to drive home the point. Union Minister in the Manmohan Singh Cabinet at present, Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi has been heading the Indian football federation for the past 15 years (since 1989). And where does Indian soccer rank in the world?  Present ranking is140 at the international level. Indian football, which used to be a team to reckon with among Asian countries, has lost tech race. Indian teams continue to keep even losing to minor rivals. But does the minister care about improving the  standard of the game? He is happy as long as he gets to travel abroad with various Indian teams. Dasmunshi went to Athens Olympics last year as chef-demission of the Indian contingent which returned with just one silver medal, earned in shooting by Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.

Vijay Kumar Malhotra, a senior BJP leader, has been ruling the archery federation for over 32 years. Government norms state that no person can be an office-bearer of any federation for more than two continuous terms (of four years each) does not apply to Mr Malhotra. At least, he thinks so. We send our archers to every single international competition, including the Olympics. But all have always returned emptyhanded. Three decades is quite a period if one wants to improve the standard of a game. But alas,  archery still remains a sport with hardly any base.

Suresh Kalmadi, the MP from Pune, has been dominating Indian athletics scene for almost 15 years. He has frequently been conducting international athletic meets in the country in an effort to promote athletics among Indian sportspersons. But it has hardly  benefited Indians. If P.T. Usha or Anju Bobby George made waves at international level, Kalmadi or the athletics federation can not take the entire credit. It was mostly due to their personal efforts that the women athletes shone on international arenas.

Cricket is a major sport in India. It’s not just a passion with the youngsters but it is a commercial proposition, too. Hence, we see a lot of politicians throwing in their hats. That’s the reason we see Sharad Pawar and Arun Jaitley have headed the Mumbai and Delhi cricket associations. Even Laloo Prasad Yadav is president of one faction of the Bihar Cricket Association. While Pawar unsuccessfully fought the BCCI election for the post of president, Jaitley was a strong contender for the same post until his political party (BJP) lost the general elections last year.

The Chautala brothers, Ajay and Abhay, are presently heading the Indian table tennis and boxing federations, respectively. And both these disciplines are lying very low in  rankings as far as even Asia is concerned. Despite their presence, the disciplines have not made even marginal progress, either financially or standard-wise. The less said about Jagdish Tytler (judo), K P Singh Deo (rowing), Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa (cycling), Vidya Stokes (women’s hockey) the better.

Not just politicians. Even some of the former bureaucrats have been hogging limelight in some of the sports federations in the country. The most ‘shining’ example is Indian Hockey Federation which is headed by former Punjab super cop K P S Gill. Gill’s 10-year tenure has seen Indian hockey slump from bad to worse. His ‘dictatorial’ attitude  and apathy to even experienced players has put Indian hockey in a bad phase from which it is struggling to get out at the moment. The eight-time Olympic gold medalists are now fighting to survive in international competitions. They have to earn their berths in most competitions by going through qualifying tournaments.

Most federations have played into the hands of these politicians, knowingly or otherwise. If the idea was to get financial and government help in running the  federations smoothly, it has not happened in most cases. Instead, politicians have  gained more for themselves than helping the federations in any way. Government provides everything from infrastructure to equipment to financial aid to grants, rewards,

awards, passage for air travel, DA and TA, subsidy for holding meets. Yet, if federations  have remained stagnant, politicians who head them are to be blamed.