The three-day sports event on the theme ‘Making India as a Sporting Nation’ is organised by FICCI in association with Sports Authority of India. This focus is on strategic dialogues to bring together senior decision makers and renowned Indian and international sports industry players to deliberate on profitable promotion and grassroots development of sports in the country.
Sharan also said that the setting up of Sector Skills Council in Sports is a big step towards making India a sporting nation in future. The council will devise ways to reduce skills gap and shortage improve productivity, hone the skills of the sector work force and improve learning.
Sharan said that sports in India has witnessed stagnation in the last few decades.
The challenges in the sector are numerous but some of which call for immediate attention such as development of a structured system at the grass root level to engage young boys and girls in the age group of 8-10 years in various sports; identifying and nurturing young talent based on their performance, talent and calibre; providing professional training, sporting equipment and wholesome nourishment to the identified sports persons; organising regular competitions of international standard at the domestic level to measure the performance of local sports persons; setting up sports science and sports medicine centres to support the sports fraternity and providing alternative viable vocational career options to players to ensure their livelihood.
Sharan urged the private sector to participate and partner with the government and the apex chamber to promote sports in the country. The stakeholders need to actively engage at all levels to improve India’s ranking as a sporting nation.
