'Politicians must not meddle in sports'

P T Usha, India's best-known woman athlete, is busy with the Usha School of Athletics, which she started a year ago at Koyilandy in Kerala's Kozhikode district. It has been a tough job for Usha to open the Academy, the first and biggest private sporting school opened by an athlete in the country.

Usha says her sport school's mission is to get an Indian on the victory podium at the 2008 Olympics. But even as she imparts relentless training to young athletes at the Academy, Usha is often upset at the "bad way the government treats sports and sportspersons in India."

"The national sports awards have lost their glamour because awards from the government always come with controversies," says the athlete known as the 'Payyoli Express.'

In an exclusive interview with Deputy Managing Editor George Iype, Usha asks the government to change the guidelines for selecting the best sportspersons in the country.

You have called for revamping the guidelines for the national sports awards. Is the present set of guidelines ineffective to honour the right sports talent in the country?
The biggest problem with the national sports awards in India is that the selection committee which the government appoints every year does not have any real powers. I was a member of the sport awards selection committee last year. I was given a booklet for each of the awards and then asked to tick suitable names. I asked my colleagues why the selection committee is duty-bound to only select names from the booklet?

Why can't we go beyond the booklet and choose names? I felt the sports awards selection committee does not have enough freedom. Therefore, the government needs to set new guidelines to ensure that the prestigious sports awards should be given to the right people and the status of the awards is not diluted.

Has the prestige of these awards been diluted over the years?
I feel so. I have won so many awards including the Padma Shri and Arjuna Award. But all these awards do not carry the kind of prestige they did once. These days, what follows the declaration of prestigious awards like the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and the Arjuna Awards are endless controversies. This year what followed the national sports awards was controversy. I blame the government for this.

Look at what happened this year. The selection committee recommended names for the awards including the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and the Aruna Awards; but the government got back to the committee insisting it should revise the names. I stand by the committee's recommendations. The committee did nothing wrong by recommending two athletes for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awards. I think the government should change the rules that only one person should be give the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award and that only 15 people should be bestowed the Arjuna Awards.

But the government argues that there should be a stipulated number of awards to be given to the sportspersons. Otherwise it could create problems.
I do not agree. There cannot be any strict, compartmentalized rules and regulations on the number of awards to be given. That should be flexible. The motto should be good, great, promising athletes should always be honoured and promoted. 

What happens if two Indian athletes win Olympics gold medals? Can the government stick to the rule that only one Indian athlete can be awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna?

Do you feel money, political power or influence plays a role in the finalization of sports awards?
I do not have any evidence to make such allegations. But I have often felt that the powers-that-be in government tried to influence the sports awards. There are many incidents in which I have seen and experienced cheap politics. When sports gets involved with petty politics from authorities and co-athletes, it becomes a nasty game. That happens in all the fields. But if an able athletic is forced to play politics to qualify for competition, then it is very sad.

What does sports in India lack?
We need to have an effective sports policy. We need to have good guidelines to avoid delicate problems and controversies that occur year after year over various national sports awards. Now if I need to get an award, I have to apply for that. Why can't we set up a system where the awards come to deserving sportspersons without applying for them? The government has to come out with a general set of rules and regulations that helps sportspersons.

What hope do you have for India's athletic future?
I think in the last few years, Indian athletes have been doing quite well. It is improving a lot thanks to the good support the government is giving to sportspersons. There is a general awareness among the people and in government that 
sports is one field that India neglected over the years. India has a brilliant future in sports. But we need to do two things  to promote sports better. First, politicians should not be allowed to meddle in sports. Second, we need to set up cientific approach to sports in the country.