New Delhi: The legendary Kapil Dev feels removing duty on sports equipments will help the country produce more champions as more children will be able to afford the products and take up a sport.
Indian golfer Aditi Ashok, who missed out on a medal after finishing fourth at the Olympics, had recently spoken about how she could not utilise the governments TOP scheme as she qualified for the Tokyo Games just 60 days before the marquee event.
Asked how the government can help golfers, the 62-year-old former India captain, who is one of the board members of the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), said “It’s not just golf but in all sports if you remove the duty on sports goods it is the biggest thing you require: be it badminton, table tennis or golf.
“The youngsters who want to get into that (sports)… there are so many things (to buy) like spikes, shoes etc. It’s not big money for the country charging the duty on sports goods, if they stop that it will make a lot of impact to the sport,” Kapil said at a PGTI event.
The World Cup-winning captain said infrastructure is another important aspect where the government can help.
“Infrastructure is most important thing in which the government can help, rest the corporate is helping. We do not expect to go to the government for everything. We should be self-sufficient like our organisation (PGTI).
“We will try to give the youngsters a benefit to come and play and who knows we’ll get a medal like Neeraj (Chopra). No one expected that. If one javelin costs a lakh, how many young children can afford that?” he questioned.
“Only thing we can ask the government is to not put any duties on the sports products like shoes etc,” he added.