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Earlier this week, Ranchi University’s Inter-college Handball Championship, scheduled to be held in the city, had to be called off. The reason; only two teams out of the 56 invited, actually turned up for the inaugural event. This lone incident was perhaps proof enough of how trivial sports (rather, certain kinds of sports) happens to be in college calendars.

Across Jamshedpur, barring Karim City and Workers’ College, every other institution has a sprawling campus, but there’s no ground for sports.

In the steel city, it seems that the reason why college-level sports activities are still alive is because of the help received from Tata Steel and the ready availability of JRD Sports Complex for practises.

Most Jamshedpur colleges have a tie-up with Tata Steel’s sports department, which in turn provides colleges with required facilities from time to time.

“There is simply not enough space. Therefore, we send our students to the stadium for practice. For indoor games, however, we do have equipment that are provided when required,” said Shanti Choudhury, sports teacher at Graduate School College for Women. Today, the college boasts of 12 national-level basketball players and some of its students hold both national and international honour in archery. But, can students really thank colleges for this success story?

While entering Jamshedpur Women’s College one is greeted by the sight of a spacious basketball court. However, the field is badly maintained, with a grass-cover that’s so tall that it would make any normal activity difficult. This college has a rich sporting past. International cager Aruna Mishra is a student from this college and way back in the 1950s JWC had hosted the India-Australia ODI in women’s cricket.

“We have a 12-acre field on the premises, but no sports ground,” is what R.K. Choudhary, sports in-charge at Lal Bhahadur Shastri Memorial College, has to say about the sports situation in his college, before adding, “There is scope for improvement, but nothing is being done. Students have to go all the way to Jaipal Stadium to practice,” says Choudhary.

At Karim City College, the situation’s probably a little worse. Due to space constraints (read, absolutely no playground) students go to JRD Tata Sports Complex for practise.

Perhaps the best campus for sports has to be Jamshedpur Co-operative College. Fortunately, the college ground is also one of the ideal places to hold cricket matches, selection trails and net practices. Moreover, there is also an adequate football ground. The college has a sports committee that selects players for each of the fraternity. But like other colleges here, too, students prefer the stadium when it comes to regular practice.

It’s not only the space problem that’s eating into college activities — there is also a dire need of qualified trainers at colleges. At some institutions (like LBSM), regular teachers are some times asked in to fill in for the professional trainers.

Ranchi University, too, has seven constituent colleges. Among them only one exclusively boys’ college and two girls’ colleges offer some choice in the matter of sports.

When asked, college authorities are prompt to point finger at the state for absolutely ignoring the dismal situation. They allege that as a result all activities are carried on with the help of the nominal fee that they charge from the students. The colleges charge a nominal fee of Rs 10 from each student for a “sports fund” of which colleges get to keep 25 per cent.

The rest of the amount (75 per cent) is kept in the university’s account that it releases depending on requirement, from time to time. The allocation of fund is from July to February while the maximum allocation of fund is Rs 1.5 lakh. Dean of students’ welfare, Ranchi University, however defends the university’s stand and states, “There are 26 to 28 different types of games in the university’s games list. But at present only four to five types like hockey, football, cricket, kho-kho and yoga are played across colleges. Adequate sports facilities are provided at some colleges (like Ranchi Women’s College and St Xavier’s College). But, other colleges lack the grounds .”

He adds, “The state has been producing a lot of young players and the university does conduct football, hockey, badminton, and kho-kho matches. Besides, we also started archery meets a few years back. Our students have also represented the state at the national-level.”

However, not all students as content that all is fine on the sports front. A student at Nirmala College, Rani, rues the lack of basic sports events: “For the past two years, our college’s annual sports meet has not been organised. And, why was that? Because, our sports teacher retired. Our principal is only interested in academics.”

Sudha Verma of Marwari Women’s College believes that as far as the sports facilities are concerned her college lacks adequate infrastructure.

“It’s not that our students have not fared well in sports. But to keep on going, we need a ground and also necessary sports equipment. The management is trying to come up with the new building that will have all the facilities including adequate infrastructure for sports,” Verma added.

Among all the dissatisfied students, those of Ranchi Women’s College, believe that they have little to complain about. “An annual sports event is organised every year in our college. Be it cricket, athletics, hockey or shooting, our students have excelled in all,” said Neelam Kumari, a second-year student. Jamshedpur and Ranchi have produced many stalwarts in different sports. Among them many were mere students, when they won laurels for their country and state. But as to how much of this talent was actually nurtured by the institutions they belonged to, remain dubious.