Cash rewards Galore- but WHY?

I’m anyways a ‘news’ person and after the Olympics got underway a few days back I’m constantly updating myself on the latest happenings in Beijing. Abhinav bindra winning gold in the 50m rifle shooting event has been a great inspiration for our medal starved contingent. Truly what he managed to pull off is great and is no mean feat!
But what’s more interesting is the way everybody reacted to the feat. Everybody who’s somebody wanted a piece of that gold medal, which actually belongs to Abhinav and his family. Not our sports ministry, not our system and certainly not our government. But like always the government has its ways of fooling our people and taking credit for the good that happens anywhere. No sooner than the news came in about the victory, state governments went into a frenzy and started announcing cash rewards for him. States like Maharashtra, Madya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh who had absolutely nothing to do with him started announcing exorbitant cash rewards. What’s the best way to congratulate a medal winner in our country? Shower him with cash rewards, even when there are millions below the poverty line, millions who don’t get a single square meal a day!
Just for the record, Maharashtra came up with a 10lakh reward followed by MP followed by a few other states. Then there was Punjab who obviously had to shower a bigger amount than every other state (since its Abhinav’s home state), so they plan to give him crore rupees as reward for his feat at the Olympics!!
These events took place a week back when he just got the medal. One would think that the rewards that he’s getting are a mere appreciation from the govts, but I doubt if that’s the case. From where I see it and from where most people see it, they are just trying to take some credit out of his performance and in some way trying to make it theirs!!
Then just today i heard that the Indian Olympic Association announced a 50lakh reward for him! What is he going to do with all this money? He’s somebody who doesn’t really need all this. He’s from an affluent background. His father is an industrialist and he’s got a rupees 200 crore hotel to his name. What will he do with this money? Probably play maintenance fees for 10 days at his Chandigarh mansion! Why don’t these people understand that this money that they are showering upon what they call their golden boy can be used to produce many such Bindras and Rathores. To start with its actually a good idea to use this money for sports, but why not use it for development of other important things? The IOA has numerous sporting bodies affiliated to it. Most of which don’t even have proper offices to work out of! Why is this money not being utilized for this? Why is the Punjab govt not using this money to build proper sporting infrastructure so that, there can be many more Golden boys? Why is this money not being used as a long term capital keeping ,may be the 2012 or 2016 Olympics in mind?
Many such questions come to my mind when I hear about all these cash rewards being pronounced. But let’s not take anything away from Abhinav’s achievement. What he has achieved is all because of his grit and determination. His focus is commendable! He’s probably one of the lucky few athletes in this country who had the right support and backing from his sposors and loved ones alike. He was determined to do well. Most importantly he was motivated and there were no financial worries unlike other less glorified athletes!
Okay, so what can exactly be done with all this money? Have good infrastructure, have more tournaments in and around the country, make your medal hopes perform in front of your own people. Let the masses know who they are. Have proper publicity for your athletes, make sure that proper coverage is given to them and they’re not overshadowed by the ever so glamorous cricketers. Use the money to employ top notch executives to bulid marketing strategies so that more money gets pumped in from sponsors. Glamorise Olympic sports!! See, if I can think of these ideas, I bet that if a few sane people sit together and chalk out plans India can emerge as a sporting superpower and not just a ” one medal an Olympic” country!