Exclusive | Shooting is more accessible in India; every national-level shooter can now import a gun: Avani Lekhara’s coach Rakesh Manpat

Have you ever stopped to think why the whole country shows a lot of interest in the Olympics and the Paralympics, whereas there aren’t too many takers, as such, for ‘non-glamourous’ sports, when they are played individually in tournaments? Have you ever wondered just how difficult it is, on a daily basis, for a para-athlete to pursue her or his passion?

The list of things that India needs to have or do to become a more disabled-friendly country, in terms of basic infrastructure and logistics is a long one. And for those who are part of the para-sport ecosystem in the country, the challenges are similarly manifold. Why do athletes who can become good coaches often not want to be a part of the system? A detailed conversation will only scratch the surface, perhaps, of what the underlying problems are and how they can be solved. But at least it’s a start.

I had a similar conversation with Indian shooter and coach, Rakesh Manpat, a national level gold medallist, recipient of the 2012 Eklavya award by the government of Karnataka, and a very successful coach and mentor.

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Rakesh, who runs his academy in Bengaluru, has coached shooters like Apurvi Chandela, Meghana Sajjanar and is currently coaching double Paralympic gold medallist, Avani Lekhara.

In this chat, Rakesh talks about coaching in India, how difficult it is for talented coaches to sometimes stay on in the system, the governance of shooting in the country, how much more accessible the sport of shooting has become in the country and why and also, very importantly what we need at the ground level, in our cities to help the differently-abled, which in turn will be a big confidence-booster for our para-athletes.

This is part 2 of an exclusive interview with Rakesh Manpat.

Also Read | Rakesh Manpat Interview Part 1: ‘Avani Lekhara is a perfectionist, I sat on a wheelchair and shot with her to understand the challenges’

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Excerpts…

In terms of coaching support for India’s shooters – you have talked about how coaches should not look at what they are doing as jobs and how they can save their jobs. Overall, would you say this mindset is prevalent throughout the system – right from the time budding shooters are being trained or is it a more elite level problem, according to you?

Manpat: At every level there are problems. What happened to the athletes who didn’t do well at the Rio Games (2016 Olympics)? Where are these athletes? Have we just discarded them? Aren’t they still useful? Are we looking at only the medallists?

Talk to me a little more about how difficult it is for a talented athlete to become a coach and stay on in the system…

Manpat: Many coaches have quit. My brother (Rajesh Manpat) doesn’t coach. He was the first national medallist for Karnataka. He made the (cut for) the Indian team in record time in the first year that began shooting. The Indian team was preparing in Bengaluru for the 2006 World Championship. We imported an air rifle in January of 2006. By May of 2006, he (brother Rajesh Manpat) was beating the World Championship team – in 5 months. Don’t you think he is talented? Why is he not coaching today? There are many good athletes who don’t get into coaching, simply because it’s not rewarding. Simply because people don’t recognise those efforts. Simply because our ecosystem doesn’t respect the coaches.

Forget money and other things – all that is secondary. We treat them as sub-standard. I asked this question to a DSP in Haryana police – ‘bhiayya aapka athlete Olympics jaa raha hain, aap kyon nahin jaa rahein hain saath mein? Aapne hi to train kiya hain isko’ (why aren’t you accompanying the athlete you have trained for the Olympics?). And explicitly he said – ‘my job is in the police’. Basically, there is no elevation for a coach, it is not considered to be a dignified job – to be a coach. What level of respect do we get?

Let’s talk about the other end of the spectrum now – the athletes who are just coming into the system. I have spoken to veteran Indian shooters in the past, who have told me that the academies are doing a stellar job these days, because you don’t need your own equipment anymore, you can hire that at the academies etc and that really helps. But what about those athletes who want to take up the sport, but don’t have such academies nearby? What happens to them?

Manpat: In our country for sure, it (sport of shooting) has become (more) accessible. Compare that with say Australia. Some people were in talks with me over the summer. They are Indians who are keen to come back and train here. There in Australia, the import system regulation of arms, air guns is very strict. They do one or two shipments a year. Here we have almost free, unrestricted import. Almost. Any national level shooter can import air guns. Pre 2008, before Abhinav Bindra’s medal (gold in Beijing Olympics), we had to be in the top 25 in the country to be able to import air guns. So, in 2006 when we imported (for brother Rajesh), we had to pay customs duty etc. and only then we could import a gun. Today, as soon as you become a national level shooter you can import a gun, so 10,000 shooters today can import guns. Even if you are not, you can go ahead and import with just GST, no customs duty. This is a big step in terms of people having more access.

This has worked in favour of the sport growing. So, cost has come down drastically. So, academies also play a big role that way. But there’s still a long way to go in terms of academies getting financial support. At the grassroot level also – some talented kid comes into an academy, but say doesn’t have the sustenance costs (means of sustenance). Say an athlete wants to make the Indian team. Now, to make the Indian team, you need to be world class. To make the cut for the state team in Karnataka for women’s air rifle, you have to shoot a world record score or Olympic top 8 record score to make the (cut for the) nationals team. The top 3 of Karnataka are that good. So, some budding shooters who might need funding at the academy level will get lost without this support system. So, potentially we will be losing medals like this. I can see that happening. We have an eye for talent, we know what the athletes are capable of. Earlier it was about bringing the equipment into the picture. If you have the equipment, you are quite good compared to most of your peers. Now, the level of competition has gone up, but your investment in equipment has become almost negligible, because there is enough equipment available.

Now, it’s about your availability and your coach’s resources. If you are not able to invest in coaching resources, then you lose. So, at the grassroot level, good quality coaching is the need of the hour. But at the same time the number of coaches in our country has grown so much – every other person calls themselves a coach. Yes, certification (courses) are there, but every certificate doesn’t yield a coach per se. So, that’s the tricky part for a parent or an athlete – to find a good coach and to be able to recognise who is a good coach and who is a bad coach, at an early stage. Bad coaches will waste three, five, ten years of your time. Good coaches will be able to do a lot more work, much faster.

What is the future of Indian shooting – both in the able bodied and paralympic categories – looking like, going by the talent, old and new that we have right now, according to you?

Manpat: Shooting is actually so different (from other sports), you can’t really say – ‘this person do well and this person will not do well’. It’s up to individuals and individual preparation alone. I will say though that every event in shooting (in India) has a bench-strength today. There is enough of a supply line. Now, how to turn them into winners and smart athletes is up to the coaches.

Another thing I wanted to talk to you about is the slightly contentious issue of governance and administration of para-shooting in the country. The NRAI removed para-shooting from its competitions in 2019. Then last year they decided to reinstate para-shooting for the State Championship/Pre-National and National Championships. The Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) objected to this. What is your take on whether NRAI should be involved in para-shooting or not etc and overall administration?

Manpat: NRAI should be able to take over para-shooting. The NRAI is a lot more mature as a federation. The work (done) is different, it’s not the same as in the able-bodied (category). The differently-abled athletes – their needs are very different. There is an element of nationalism there (in PCI), not denying it, but there is a bigger element of control that they are trying to exercise, which is beyond their scope of work. I have participated at the state level elections of the Karnataka state rifle association early in 2012-13 as an active athlete, simply because we were not getting the due credit for our shooting. Not that we were asking for even one rupee. We were asking for the basic rights like access to facilities, six days a week and having basic ammunition access to improve our shooting skills. We fought the election tooth and nail and we won. From that point to now, Karnataka shooting has improved from ten shooters going to the nationals to more than six hundred. This is our contribution. I am not in the committee today. I was in two-three consecutive committees.

Now, if I sit and hold on to these posts, without the fairness of elections and other things – I personally think that the sports code is very important, where beyond two terms they (office holders) don’t sit. Whoever is spending more than say ten years (in one post or sports body) gets absolute power and absolute power is corruption. Consider the Army or the civil services where positions keep changing. Every two to three years they change positions, postings keep changing. That is why we have a robust system. In the (sports) federations you are giving absolute power when you are giving ten years or twenty years in those positions. That should not be (the case). The framework has to be very strong. We are all governed by the Societies Act – as state federations or national federations, we are all registered entities. They have to see to it that the positions are getting re-occupied, with fair elections, everywhere. That is what will create a lot more transparency in the system.

Overall, the ecosystem created for the differently-abled goes hand in hand with how confident para-athletes also feel, on a day-to-day basis. In that context, what are the few things that come to your mind that need to be worked on, on a war footing?

Manpat: The dialogue has to start from – can we create proper social security for them (para-athletes)? Can we pay them a monthly pension, because they were either born disabled or became disabled? Then look at – can we relocate them to a wheelchair-accessible location? And make our entire cities wheelchair accessible. Put those contractors who make bad roads behind bars. That also is a problem. We are not looking at who created that pothole on the road, we are not looking at the current ecosystem of our roads. If an able-bodied person is not being able to walk on our pavements, how do we expect the differently abled (to do that)?

There’s a neighbour I have, near our shooting academy. He joined our academy some time back. He is extremely good in academics. His father has said – ‘sir, as soon as his class 12th is done, we are going to the Netherlands. That is the place for him’. He is not going to be in India. Brilliant mind, a loss for our country. Their (abroad) acceptance of society for the differently-abled is so, so high, compared to our society. We will continue to lose talent. Now, these are people who can afford to go abroad. What about the 99% people who cannot afford to go? They are all inside four walls, facing the darkest phases of their lives. It’s very, very difficult (for the differently abled in India). Each of these people and each of these athletes are heroes, whether they win medals or not.