NBT publishes book on sports

National Book Trust, India is publishing a book titled Quest for Olympic Gold: Strategies for Excellence under its General series. The book, which was commissioned on the occasion of the Commonwealth Games at Delhi starting on 3rd October 2010, will be available to the buyers at the NBT Book Shop at its Vasant Kunj headquarters and the Asaf Ali Road during the Commonwealth Games at Delhi.

Considering the fact that India has one of the largest human resources in the world, our rather dismal status among the sports playing nations has understandably remained one of our biggest national disappointments. After all, what ails Indian sports and what can be the way ahead to stake a respectable claim in the international sports arena? The book seeks to discuss this all in a frank manner while delineating the roles of various stakeholders like the state and central governments including the Sports Authority of India, Indian Olympic Association, National Sports Federations, Media etc. In the backdrop of the concrete achievements of placing adequate world class sports infrastructure for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010 and the euphoria, both good and bad, associated with the event, the present book takes stock of the required groundwork that have been done and further needs to be done in the country’s quest to earn a rich haul of gold medals at the Mecca of all sporting events—the Olympics.

Arun Kumar Pandya, (IAS, batch 1957, Madhya Pradesh cadre), has held various responsible posts in the state government as well as at the centre retiring as Secretary to the Govt. of India, Department of Youth Affairs & Sports and Director-General, Sports Authority of India (SAI) in 1992.