The Indian Sports Ministry: From Mani Shankar Aiyar to Rajyavardhan Rathore

It was 2007, and India's bid for hosting the Asian Games 2014 was scuttled. While it was South Korea who eventually won the bid, the then Sports Minister of India had come in for glaring criticism from all quarters. Mani Shankar Aiyar, who held the portfolio had once publicly said that the hosting of such games in a 'poor' country like India, does not benefit the citizens.

While everyone is entitled to his own opinion, this remark doesn't suit the stature of a Sports Minister of a country. The fact of the matter remains, that because India was hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2010, most of the infrastructure would have been already present, and the Asian Games could have provided an excellent opportunity for our athletes and sportspersons to test and enhance their skills against the best in Asia.

After MS Aiyar many stalwarts of Indian Politics like MS Gill, Ajay Maken, Jitendra Singh, Sarbananda Sonowal and Vijay Goel have successively held this important ministry, with varying degree of hits and misses, in terms of the positive effect they could create on the sporting environment in the country.

However, none other than Ajay Maken could make a lasting contribution, which could turn around the dismal array of Athletics in particular and sports in general. In fact, it was MS Aiyar himself who had said that Maken would be a better sports minister than he was.

Finally, the sports ministry has been taken away from the clutch of politicians and the response has been given to a true-blue Indian Sporting Icon, Col. Rajvavardhan Singh Rathore.

A highly decorated shooter Rathore has a long list of accolades to his name, the chief among which is the silver at Athens Olympics in 2004. Among other things, he is also a double gold medalist at the Commonwealth Games as well as the World Shooting Championship and recipient of the Padam Shri, the Arjuna and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.

He also won an individual bronze medal in the Asian Games 2006 in Doha. The same Asian Games for which his once predecessor had wished the failure of the Commonwealth Games because its success would mean that the clamour for bringing of Asian Games and Olympics in India would only rise.

Appointing Mr Rathore at the helm of affairs, seems like a step in the positive direction, with news of Rathore conducting various surprise inspections of the facilities of SAI crippling in.

In what is good news for 15-years-old Nisar Ahmed, Mr Rathore has taken up to himself to make sure that the ministry provides the required help he deserves. His father who drives a rickshaw had earlier taken a loan of Rs 28,000 to aid his son's training and was unable to pay it back.

While the thought of an actual sportsperson being the head of the Sports Ministry has finally seen the light of the day, it remains to be seen, if the results are as good as expected.