Will you spend Rs 80 to see India win a dozen Olympic golds?

Every four years, a nation of 1.2 billion struggles to win medals at the Olympics. Some unfairly lash out at the players on social media. Other self-righteous types talk about how we should encourage our players, how at least we participated, and that is what finally matters. Frankly , none of it is relevant or will help us win medals. So what will it take for India to not just win a bronze and a silver but a dozen golds and three dozen medals in all (yes, it is possible!) at the Olympics?

Let's first look at some common reasons cited for our poor performance (and why they are wrong).These are: we don't have money for sports (we actually don't need to spend that much on a per capita basis), we don't have good genes (bizzare, as Indians are a very large and diverse gene pool), parents don't encourage kids to play sports as it has no future (partly true, but the same is the case abroad. For instance, silver-medallist rowers won't have a lavish future awaiting them anywhere in the world).

In reality , there are three main reasons why we suck at the Olympics...

We just don't care much about Olympic sports (except when the Olympics is on and that is the cool thing to do).

We don't value excellence in society as much.Jugaad and mediocrity often work just fine, though they can't get us medals.

We don't spend enough or in the right direction to win Olympic medals.

The first two are societal values. They will change slowly , over time. The third, how we spend on sports, is the focus here. We have to understand the difference between spending on competitive sports and on sports in general. Sports is not all competition, it is also for recreation and exercise, which is also important. For instance, we need to have jogging tracks in parks. These may not yield world-class athletes, but will make the neighbourhood fitter. On the other hand, it also costs a lot to train athletes to win a medal on the world stage. What should we do? There is no easy answer. You need a bit of both.

Right now, however, the need of the hour is to end this humiliation. If India wins a dozen golds, it will have huge benefits. It will put the country on the global map. It will motivate millions of youth.It will invoke a stronger national identity in us. Even politically , a leader like Narendra Modi positions himself on making India glorious. This is one way of doing so.

It is important to see some numbers. Australia, with a mere 20 million population, averages around 50 medals in every Olympics. The total amount it spends on sports: around Rs 700 crore, of which 80% (Rs 560 crore) goes into Olympic sports.

India has averaged two medals in every Olympics in the last two decades. The amount we spend? Well, the carve-out for sports in the youth and sports ministry budget is about Rs 900 crore. Of this, over two-thirds goes in organizing local-level tournaments (not meant to yield Olympic winners), giving prizes, upgrading stadiums, and schemes like uplifting the Northeast. Only around Rs 300 crore is available for actually improving the level of sport. It isn't clear how much of that is going into Olympic-level training. The talent search budget for the entire nation, for instance, was only Rs 5 crore. Either way , even at a grossly over-estimated Rs 300 crore, the amount on a per sport basis for the 20-odd Olympic sports, is only Rs 15 crore. So we have a national budget of Rs 15 crore for, say, swimming, a sport where you can win a ton of medals. That probably just pays for the salaries of babus associated with the sport. Hence, the amount left to find and train new players is nothing. Good luck finding Olympic champions with that! Australia, on the other hand, spends a far less absolute amount, but has lower overheads, lesser corruption and is clear about its goal -Olympics.

India can do the same. For one, we need a separate budget, say the Indian Olympics Fund, for Olympic talent scouting and training (versus that for promoting sports in general). This budget should be at least Rs 10,000 crore per year. It sounds like a lot but is only Rs 80 per Indian on a per capita basis.

Something like a Nandan Nilekani-Aadhar setup, where the Olympics Fund is managed by external professionals, would keep things more honest and efficient. The 10,000 crore would be spent in three parts. One, to identify and maintain a talent pool of 5,000 elite sportspersons (called Elite5000) in the country , preferably in medal-heavy events (swimming, cycling, etc). Two, to pay for the Elite5000 scholarships and education so they don't have to worry about money or having a job later. Three, to give world-class training to Elite5000, of which say 300 will make up the Indian contingent at the Olympics.Such a setup will certainly win us a dozen golds.

Medals do not just come from a) having a fighting spirit, b) being emotionally patriotic, c) cheering our players on social media or d) turning individual sporting heroes into media stars. These things help, but they are and should be a given. Medals will come if we implement the Indian Olympics Fund in the manner prescribed above. Now tell me, are you ready to pay Rs 80 per year to feel the pride of India winning a dozen gold medals at every Olympics?