Post by Acharya Prashant

India Fails Its Athletes.... Again The two men struggling to load long poles into an e-rickshaw are not ordinary passengers. They are Dev Kumar Meena and Kuldeep Kumar. Athletes who just cleared 5.45 metres in pole vault and created a new 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱. But just 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆, they were left arranging transport for themselves. No official vehicle. No logistics support. Nothing. Just an 𝗲-𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗮𝘄 and 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗵𝗮𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲𝘀 carrying equipment worth lakhs. Each pole costs close to ₹𝟮 𝗹𝗮𝗸𝗵. One crack, one wrong bend, one careless ride, and an athlete’s entire season can collapse. Yet nothing was arranged. ------------------------------------------ 𝗔𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝘆𝗮 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗻𝘁 has often pointed out that this problem is neither new nor accidental. It is structural. Sports funding in India is frequently inconsistent, bureaucratic, and disconnected from the actual needs of athletes. And 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 makes the imbalance even sharper. In a country where one sport captures most of the sponsorships, media attention, and institutional backing, thousands of 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲𝘀 are left competing for scraps. Not just in funding, but in facilities, visibility, and even basic dignity. And until the gap between budgets on paper and support on the ground is honestly addressed, this will not remain an exception. It will remain the rule.

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