There has been perceptible improvement in the performance of the Indian sportspersons in recent years. The performance of our sportspersons in major international tournaments since Beijing Olympics, 2008 has been encouraging. India won 3 medals (1 Gold and 2 Bronze) in Beijing Olympics, 2008. In Commonwealth Games, 2010, India won 101 medals (38 Gold, 27 Silver and 36 Bronze) and was 2nd in medals tally. In Asian Games, 2010 held in Guangzhou, China, India won 64 medals (14 Gold, 17 Silver and 33 Bronze) and was 6thin medals tally, which was India’s best since inception of the Asian Games. This was stated by Shri Ajay Maken, Minister of State (I/C) for Youth Affairs & Sports, in the Rajya Sabha today in a reply to a question by Dr. T.N. Seema.
In the London Olympics, 2012, Indian sportspersons came up with a record performance by winning 6 medals (2 Silver and 4 Bronze). Although some of the sportspersons such as P. Kashyap (Badminton), Tintu Luka (Atheletics-800m), Vikas Gowda (Athletics-Discus Throw), Krishna Poonia (Athletics-Discus Throw), Irfan K. Thodi (Atheletics-20km walk), Vijender Singh (Boxing-75kg), DevendroSingh (Boxing- 46-49kg) could not win medals but their performance was creditable.
The Minister further stated that the Government of India has already initiated action for training the Indian Team for Olympic Games, 2020 with intermediate milestones of Asian Games(2014 & 2018), Commonwealth Games(2014&2018) and Rio Olympic Games, 2016. The funding will be met from the Scheme “Assistance to National Sports Federations’ which would be supplemented from NSDF.
As regards setting up Sports Science Centres, Sports Authority of India (SAI) has set up four Sports Science Centres in the country for the purpose of training of sportspersons, details of which are as under:-
i) SAI Netaji Subhas Eastern Centre at Kolkata, West Bengal.
ii) SAI Netaji Subhas Southersn Centre at Bangalore, Karnatka.
iii) SAI Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, Patiala, Punjab.
These SAI centres have sports science facilities in Sports Medicine, Sports Psychology, Anthropometry, Bio/Mechanics, Exercise physiology and training methods which are managed by highly qualified and experienced teams of Sports Scientists. Besides, fitness equipment and recovery methods facilities are also available at these centres. The scientific support to National Campers is an essential part of the system of preparation for international competitions. The facilities available at these centres are being provided to SAI trainees and National Campers.
The Sports Minister further stated that in order to focus on the high quality of research study and targets of sports science and medicine for producing sports champions who could spearhead the Indian challenge on the world sporting arena, it was felt necessary to create a national hub which could contribute to the growing corpus of research, as seen in other developed and prominent countries like Australia & China. Accordingly, it has been proposed to set up a National Institute of Sports Sciences and Medicine (NISSM) at New Delhi. The proposed NISSM would be the leading institute in the country to support high performance of sportspersons and integrate sciences and medicine into the training of elite sportspersons in the country as well as into teaching curriculum of sport coaching in the country, the Minister added
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