Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday made a strong pitch to promote sports in India and even questioned why 'babus' have been paid a higher daily allowance than the Indian team "that brings glory to the country", during the Olympic Games. "Previously, the government officials sent along with the team of athletes used to get paid more than the athletes. We have removed the disparity. Everybody will get same amount of money," Modi said on Sunday, before flagging off 'Run for Rio', a promotional event in New Delhi to send off the Indian Olympics team to Rio.
Not just a higher allowance, this time around, the Indian contingent will also get to eat 'desi' food if they so wish, the PM said. And, the squad is being sent in advance of the Rio Olympics - that start August 5 - so that players become familiar with local conditions. "Earlier they got only a few days to acclimatize," Modi said, talking about the efforts the Centre has made to ensure this is not just the largest squad ever, but the most successful one.
"Every player has worked hard to get here. The Centre will ensure that Indian athletes get Indian food according to their choice and requirement," the PM said. The PM gave a strong boost to the Indian Olympic contingent - at 119, the largest ever - and said that for these Games the government has spent as much as £12.5 million.
"Two years ago itself, we started to study the reasons why our sportspersons were criticized so that we had enough time to work on them," Modi said. Therefore, "this time, athletes were given the freedom to choose their own trainers," he added. India has spent between Rs 3000,000 and £150,000 on each athlete to prepare for the Olympics, Modi said. "I'm sure our athletes will win the hearts of the world and will show the world what India is about," Modi added.
Shooter Bindra, hockey team arrive
Shooter Abhinav Bindra, the only Indian to have an individual gold medal at the Olympics, arrived at the Olympics village on Saturday. The arrival of Bindra, who will compete in the 10 metre air rifle event, comes a day after the Indian hockey team landed here, according to an official release.
The arrival of India’s hockey team, the record eight-time Olympic champions, heralded a lot of enthusiasm as the 16 playing members and two alternate players plus officials, including chief coach Roelant Oltmans landed at the Olympic Village.
Led by goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh, the team includes midfield stalwart Sardar Singh, V.R. Raghunath and Rupinder Pal among the team.
The team on Friday evening settled into the Building, where the Indian contingent is housed and immediately got around to meeting their colleagues from other sports.
Receiving them at the Housing Complex in the Olympic Village was Rakesh Gupta, the chef de mission and his administrative staff. Oltmans did the formalities and got the rooms quickly before retiring to catch some much-needed rest.
Lack of facilities at Olympic Village
The Indian hockey teams at the Olympics are facing a shortage of chairs and Television sets at the Games Village and chief coach Oltmans has complained that the players' apartments are not properly furnished. In a letter to Chef de Mission Rakesh Gupta, Oltmans complained about unfurnished accommodation provided to both the men's and women's hockey teams.
"The apartments of the Rio Olympics are not furnished properly," Oltmans, who is also the High Performance Director of Indian hockey, wrote in his letter. "For athletes who have to perform at top-level during a longer period of the Olympics we need proper chairs and tables in the apartments for 6 persons. Actually there are only 2 chairs in each apartment.
"For men and women we are using 9 apartments so there is a lack of 28 proper chairs and for 7 Apartments we need at least one table as well. In the staff apartments we've managed to bring in some tables," he said.
"During the Olympics we would like to give our players the possibility to watch the matches of our competitors live on TV. This will help the players to prepare themselves for the upcoming matches against these opponents." In another letter, Oltmans asked for Chef de Mission's permission to purchase TV sets for the hockey teams. "I would like to get permission to purchase 3 TVs to be able to follow the hockey competition in both the staff rooms and at least in one of the male and female Apartments," the Dutchman wrote.
"I also tried to rent more chairs but at this moment there are no chairs available in the Village. We're pleased you've given us some chairs but in the end we need proper furniture for all the players. Spending too much time in bean chairs might occur back injuries for the players.
"Please help us to find a solution. We all want our hockey teams to perform well but we need to support them as well with the right conditions," Oltmans concluded.
