PMC deals crippling blow to folk games in its sports policy

IPL seasons will come and go but itrsquos no secret that India is not a sporting nation And itrsquos even more explicit that many traditional games here do not have a leg to stand on Which is why Pune Municipal Corporationrsquos decision to not include events like lsquolangdirsquo in its firstever sports policy has failed to go down well with many citizens and politicians alike Hop to it Girls from Modern High School playing langdi at their playground during sports hour In a recently held meeting the civic bodyrsquos sports committee refused to incorporate langdi ndash a popular schoollevel sport where you try to catch a bunch of players while hopping on one leg ndash in its list of disciplines and also declined to organise a mayorrsquo trophy competition for the same lsquoItrsquos decidedrsquo Justifying the exclusion of langdi PMC sports committee chairperson Anil Tingre said ldquoIf today we include langdi tomorrow another proposal may come for viti dandu tipcatrdquou00a0 The argument over langdi started after MNS corporator Asmita Shinde sent a proposal to include the game in the sports policy and also arrange a mayorrsquos trophy contest for it Leap of faith Corporator Asmita Shinde inset says PMC should do all it can to promote langdi ldquoEven though this game is not internationally recognised it is very popular among school children Langdi is a sport which was born on Indian soil The sports committee has to include it to endorse local eventsrdquo Shinde said On the other hand the sports committee says it is trimming down the number of mayor trophy meets held in a year ldquoPreviously around 3035 such events were held annually But now we have decided to arrange only 12 of them per year According to the list of approved games every year 12 new sports will be selected for mayorrsquos trophyrdquo maintained Tingare lsquoWonrsquot budgersquo However Shinde is firm on her stand to hold a mayorrsquos trophy competition for langdi ldquoIf after much opposition PMC could invite Pakistani athletes for a recent wrestling competition in the city why it can not organise a competition of langdi to promote the sport and give a boost to schoolkidsrdquo asked Shinde Specifying the importance and nationalinternational station of the game Shobha Nikam chairperson of Pune District Langdi Association said ldquoLangdi is the foundation of many games like khokho volleyball and gymnastics It really helps preteens build staminardquo Nikam who just last year organised a nationallevel langdi competition in the city said ldquoLangdirsquos popularity is not restricted to Maharashtra as it is played 20 Indian states The game has also found patrons in Malaysia and Bhutanrdquo Asked whether langdi is recognised by Maharashtra Olympic Association MOA she added ldquoOur efforts are on and I am sure like dodgeball langdi will also soon be integrated into MOA listrdquo Game on The sports policy of the city came into effect on October 6 2012 With this PMC has become the first municipal corporation in the country to have such a policy for encouraging sportspersons The strategy includes providing good training facilities to protect land marked for playgrounds and promote development of sports activities for children As per the policy sports activity centres will be set up in different parts of the city There are also guidelines for constructing sports complexes and developing grounds Not playing fair Even though now it seems that PMC sports committee is sidetracking traditional games like langdi on January 4 despite stiff opposition from within its ranks the civic body held a wrestling competition with budgetary provision of Rs 15 crore under the name of mayorrsquos trophy Besides 24 Indian wrestlers 21 wrestlers from countries like Pakistan Turkey and Iran took part Incidentally about a month after the competition the International Wrestling Committee IWC dropped wrestling from its schedule for the 2020 Olympicsu00a0 35u00a0Approx no of mayorrsquos trophy events held in the city per year 12u00a0No of such events PMC plans to organise annually from now onwards