Vikas Gowda rues lack of support from governments back home

Vikas Gowda

One of India’s top athletes, ace discus thrower Vikas Gowda, has said that he is running short on funds due to a lack of support from the central and state governments in India and that it may force him to borrow from backers in the US in order to ensure optimum preparation for next year’s Commonwealth and Asian Games.

“We can’t wait any longer. We will be forced to take a huge credit as we need at least $90,000 to begin training at the World Athletics Centre in Arizona. Till now we managed by spending the cash award of Rs 10 lakh which Vikas got from the central government for reaching the final in the London Olympics,” said Vikas’ father Shive Gowda claiming that there were no options left for his son.

Shive Gowda said that his son had not been treated fairly by the central government claiming that only a fraction of what was requested for got allocated to Vikas – “We needed $120,000 and got only a fraction of that”

According to reports from the Press Information Bureau (PIB)which shows data on the release of funds from the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) in January 2012 – Vikas received $14,210 (about Rs 7.39 lakh) which was much lower than what other athletes belonging to the same pool received. This was a part of the ‘Operation Excellence’ program for the London Olympics that was launched by the central government.

“It is sad that the authorities in India are not realizing that we are wasting time. We are yet to get any funding for Vikas’ training despite repeated mails to the Union sports minister, officials, SAI officials, Athletics Federation of India and the Karnataka sports department. It is disappointing that the money released by the government is not reaching the right people,” Shive said.

Vikas has also not received any support from Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, even after paying a visit to Bangalore earlier in September to try and press for support.

“We haven’t got any reply from the Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports (DYES). The state government had promised a cash award of Rs 4 lakh for winning the gold medal in the Pune Asian meet but even that is pending,” Shive added.

His approximate total expenditure for a one-year period until next September is said to be $173,800 (approx Rs 1.08 crore), the details of which he has submitted to the Karnataka Chief Minister.

State government officials in the meantime continue to state that the athlete’s request was being held under consideration due to the large amount.

“We are exploring different ways to help him but it will take time,” they said.

For last year’s London Olympics, the previous state government had provided Rs 50 lakh to Vikas to help with his preparation.