The Hindu : Getting onto the big stage

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 25, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Getting onto the big stage

By V. V. Subrahmanyam

HYDERABAD, JAN. 24. It indeed was a big day for them and their beaming faces said it all. Not to miss out on the special occasion, they sought to savour every moment and why not? For they were participating in the first ever State-level Rural Olympics in the country, which was formally inaugurated by the Sports Minister, P. Ramulu, at the Lal Bahadur Stadium here on Saturday.

A couple of hundred enthusiastic men and women, who made it to the finals of the two-day sports meet, were keen to prove that they were in no way inferior to their city counterparts in sports.

Joint efforts of the Federation of Farmers' Association (FFA) and the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP) to experiment with the concept of involving farmers and many others living in rural areas in sports competitions, finally bore fruit. The two bodies decided to initially cover 10 districts in the State and then gradually spread the `sporting spirit' to the other districts as well. Sports helping the farming community unite! Well, that seemed to be the motto behind the whole affair.

The event kicked off with a kabaddi match involving teams from Chittoor (home district of the Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu) and Mahabubnagar (home district of the Sports Minister).

The SAAP also announced a grant of Rs. 10 lakhs besides providing sports equipment for the rural Olympics. Apparently, the focus was on taking sports to the rural areas. In fact, quite a few speakers pointed out that most of the national and international competitions were restricted to big cities and the rural folk were invariably deprived of a chance to witness top class competition or even take part in State-level meets.

For the rural Olympics, initially the organisers have decided to conduct competitions in volleyball, kabaddi, tennikoit, track events (200m and 800m), `shuttle races' and the 500 m cycle race. "We are keen to extend this concept to all the districts by next year," says M. Sitarama Swamy, president of the FFA.

S. Jaipal Reddy, secretary of the FFA says, "We have a dual strategy -- to unite farmers across the country and also spread the sports culture," adding that soon they would organise Inter-State Rural Olympics.

The objective of rural Olympics is to develop social cohesiveness and teamwork in rural areas, inculcate sports culture and also spot hidden talent, says the former SAAP chairman, P. R. Mohan, who is involved in organising the event.

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