The performance of athletes will remain in focus during the Olympic year. However, the National Anti Doping Agency will have the job to make sure that India sends a clean contingent, considering that there were a number of few high-profile doping cases in recent times. The country is among the top three nations when it comes to doping violations.
Scaling up testing and awareness campaigns are key components to fight the doping menace, feels National-Anti Doping Agency Director General Ashish Bhargava.
“When there is so much sport happening now, it becomes our responsibility to scale up our testing and awareness campaigns. We (NADA) want to remain present in most of the bigger events, national events and even state level events. We are trying to do that so as to ensure that there are clean sports,” said Bhargava, who took over the position of NADA DG in October.
“Our athletes should make us proud because every single citizen will stand behind them, and at the same time they should abide by the ethics and rules of clean sports. We want to send a clean contingent to the Paris Olympics,” he said.
NADA has increased its activity in the last few months and collected samples from state-level meet and at the National Men’s Inter-University athletics championships in Chennai. At the Delhi state championships, several athletes fled after the NADA team came for dope testing.
“We are routinely doing activities. We have our intelligence wing. Every year we are developing our system, like how we want to control this thing. You don’t want to go back in time.
“We want to increase our ambit, be it testing in University meets, State meets, we are expanding. We can test anybody, anywhere. That is our mandate. We are within our powers. Our resources are also increasing, be it financial, technology etc as we expand.”
“Deterrence has to be there for everyone, but it has to be combined with awareness and education programmes. Getting to know the right thing like what is harmful and what is not harmful. Athletes need to know that the same things (performance level) can be achieved without consuming harmful substances,” said Bhargava, the Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer.
Coaches and parents play a crucial role in an athlete’s career. Bhargava said NADA is trying to reach out to more stakeholders to make them aware that they are equally responsible for the success of an athlete and make him a better and clean athlete. “We realise that athletes are influenced by the environment they find themselves in, so our education and awareness campaign extends beyond athletes.”
NADA collected more than 5000 samples last year and the testing of samples is only going to increase this year keeping the Olympics in mind. “Yes, we will be increasing it this year and it is need based. We need to keep each game as clean as possible.”
“There is so much more at stake for athletes and they need to push themselves away rather than towards it. In the long run you are heading for a dead end, if you tread the path of doping. They need to understand that health is more important.”
The world anti doping agency last year said in a report that NADA has been lagging in putting in place appropriate monitoring of athletes’ whereabouts information in the registered testing pool.
Bhargava said that the whereabouts failures have decreased.
“We have been trying to tell them through the federation that they need to file this and how to do it. There are various mediums — apps, website, email. Whereabout failure has decreased dramatically and athletes now know they have to file it because with success comes responsibility.”