Sachin Tendulkar was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in April 2012
Cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar's first speech in parliament in three years remained unheard on Thursday as the Rajya Sabha was disrupted by loud opposition protests and slogan shouting over recent comments made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi against his predecessor Manmohan Singh of the Congress. Sachin, 44, had moved the house for a Short Discussion motion on the "Right to Play and the future of sports in India". Sachin was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in April 2012. His record as a parliamentarian has been patchy and he has mainly been talked about because of his poor attendance. This was his first statement in parliament.
Sachin ended up delivering his speech on Facebook Live today. Here are the highlights from his speech:
- Financial security is often a challenge when any sportsperson decides to focus on sports alone as their career.
- I am aware that the Government, through its many institutions, employs sports-persons and supports them which we all appreciate. But we have many national, state and district level retired athletes who don't have a proper job. While ensuring their financial stability, we must also keep their minds engaged. Their skills and passion for sports would be best utilized for coaching our future generations.
- We need to create an organization and engage these athletes to train our school children and identify talent at an early age. There is so much that these athletes have to offer back to society.
- It is also imperative to have health insurance for all our national level athletes. The struggles faced by hockey great Mohammad Shahid in his last days reiterates the need to prevent such unfortunate situations.
- The life of Shamsher Khan is another reminder of how we have failed our national heroes ... Our national heroes should be able to live a respectable life. Extending CGHS benefits to them is a step in that direction. I appeal to the Hon'ble Minister of Health & Family Welfare J.P. Naddaji to kindly consider my request on this issue which is in line with the recommendations put forth by the AICS.
- Sportspersons who won the gold, silver and bronze medals for India, do we appreciate them enough?
- These champions, our heroes, didn't have the best of everything, but they made the best of everything. I think it is extremely important that youngsters learn about our sporting history. I sincerely feel that the lives of these champions should be part of our curriculum. In the year 2009, this August House passed the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill. It is my humble suggestion that the Act be amended to include the Right to Play.
- Before the Olympics or a major sporting event, our expectations go sky rocketing. I realize that things are changing for the good and that we have adopted a long-term approach on preparation.
- Along with early identification of talent, we must also have a dedicated squad guiding our athletes' preparations. I feel it is extremely importantly to have full time support staff around our athletes and winning medals should become their target as well.
With inputs from PTI