New Delhi: Top Indian high jumper Tejaswin Shankar has questioned the sports ministry's decision to make Khelo India medal winners eligible for government jobs, saying it may prompt athletes to use "unfair means" as the policy seeks to reward single achievement over consistent performance.
Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on Wednesday announced that the medal winners from the Khelo India Games -- Youth, University, Para and Winter Games -- would be eligible for government jobs as per a revised criteria.
Shankar, who won a high jump bronze in the 2022 Commonwealth Games and a decathlon silver in the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, was not amused with the decision but acknowledged that his views can be considered an "unpopular opinion".
"If we want to be a sporting superpower we can't normalize giving out sports quota jobs to youth/junior athletes. Needs to be a criteria eg: 3 years of consistent medals at nationals or 5 years of being in top 8 nationally etc.," he wrote on 'X' in a series of posts.
"... incentive to resort to unfair means is really high when u have a govt job at hand and all u have to do it (sic) medal once at age group level nationally. We need to reward consistency not spikes in performance," said the national record holder.
He, however, did not specify the exact nature of the unfair means that aspirants may resort to.
The government has said that the move is aimed at nurturing talent at grassroots level and turn sports into a lucrative and viable career option.
Shankar said Khelo India is a "wonderful" initiative but giving job opportunities does not fit with what it seeks to achieve.
"Khelo India is a wonderful opportunity to grow awareness, scout talent, develop interest, create a sporting ecosystem etc etc. ie: True grassroot development which is a welcome addition! Jobs don't fit in this conversation..." "We have plenty (of) opportunities and more are always welcome. Need to streamline them to make each count towards ultimate goal which is to have a broad pool of athletes who can potentially represent india in any event/sport.
"Real scope lies in finding synchrony between bodies organising school national, AIUni games, khelo India, Jr nationals, CBSE nationals, KVS nationals, u14-16 state level etc…This will help streamline talent by recognising each performance appropriately." Last month, the Sports Ministry's Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) approved Shankar's request for financial assistance towards participation in continental tour events in Europe to gain important points in his bid to qualify for Paris Olympics in high jump.
He wants to compete in Belgium's high jump Gala Elmos, which is a category D event, followed by International Athletic Meet, Hvezdy Nehvizdy in Czech Republic, a category B event.
Replying to an 'X' user, Shankar said "worldwide less than 1 per cent people actually have careers as pro athletes and make enough to live off of sports." "I think fundamentally the goal of youth sports in society is wholistic development and a healthy population. Not translation into career options.
"Money is not the problem. Why would one do something if there's no monetary incentive among other things? Higher you go more the reward. But the lowest hanging fruit shouldn't be sweet enough to where you stop trying to go higher." Under the revamped regulations of the government, individuals who excel in events such as the Khelo India Youth Games (for participants aged 18 and above), Khelo India Winter Games, Khelo India Para Games, and Khelo India University Games will now qualify for government employment opportunities.
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