Sports minister Kiren Rijiju has said India is such a large country that it should finish among the top 5 at the Olympics rather than satisfying with a couple of medals.
Sports minister Kiren Rijiju (IANS Photo)
HIGHLIGHTS
- Sports minister Kiren Rijiju has said Junior TOPS will be launched this year
- Rijiju said his aim is to convert India into a sporting powerhouse
- The minister said India need to bring a change in their mindset as well
Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday informed that the government is set to commence Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) at the junior level from this year. TOPS is a flagship program of the Sports Ministry for providing financial assistance to India’s top athletes.
Speaking at the book launch of ‘Dreams of a Billion India and the Olympic Games’ co-written by Boria Majumdar and Nalin Mehta, Rijiju stressed on his target to convert India into a sporting powerhouse and bring in structural reform changes.
“From this year, we are going to start junior TOPS scheme, so that means we will start funding the junior, at the age of 12, 13, 14,” Rijiju said, adding, “The parents need not worry about taking care of the child who is interested in sports. If we see potential the government will definitely take care of them.”
The sports minister said India is such a large country that it should finish among the top 5 at the Olympics and one should not be talking about just a couple of medals at the prestigious global tournament.
“The mindset of society is reflected in your action. You can not blame anyone for India not being able to perform in the Olympics. The size of India is not suitable to talk about 3-4 medals. India is of the size of a continent, we should be talking about figuring in top 5. It is changing, it will change.”
Rijiju further laid emphasis on grooming young talents to build a sporting culture in the country.
“Sport is a passion for me. I do not want to talk about my history but the job in my hand is to ensure that India must become a global sporting powerhouse. This is the single target that I have. Till this date, can you imagine we never had University games in India? University games are the ones where you bring out the champion. All Olympic champions are from universities.”
“We have a School Games Federation in India but we never had School Games. So the structural reform change is going to have a revolutionary effect,” Rijiju said.
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