On a mild winter afternoon last December, Ruchit Mori set a Khelo India University Games record in Jaipur. The sprinter, representing Swarnim Gujarat Sports University, ran the 400m hurdles in 51 seconds, finishing first. Everything about the race was unremarkable; the timing, the level of competition — except that Mori ran alone. The seven other finalists did not start, fleeing the venue after word spread that anti-doping watchdogs had landed to conduct tests.The incident was a damning indictment of the doping menace at all levels that is making Indian sport, especially athletics, hollow from within.AdvertisementIn the last week, this point was reinforced by two of the world’s biggest anti-doping bodies. During his visit to New Delhi, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) president Witold Banka called India “one of the biggest producers of performance-enhancing drugs”. “It is a serious problem,” he warned. Days later, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said Indian athletes were also among the biggest consumers of performance-enhancing drugs. It flagged the “extremely high” doping risk among Indians and urged the Athletics Federation of India to get its house in order.Also Read | The podium that India doesn’t need to be onThis isn’t the first time India’s anti-doping programme has been put in the dock. In 2019, following an anonymous tip-off, WADA launched a years-long investigation, titled Operation Carousel, and uncovered glaring lapses. The world body wrote multiple times to India’s National Anti-Doping Agency, a government-funded body responsible for enforcing anti-doping measures, and expressed concerns about its “capabilities and practices”. The WADA noted that India’s supervision of athlete whereabouts was inadequate, underlined a lack of sufficient testing, and lacked an effective intelligence or investigative capability. In the same year, it suspended India’s National Dope Testing Laboratory for not complying with world standards during on-site assessments.All this while, India remained among the top three nations of dope cheats. And after showing years of consistency on this front, the country reached the top of the rankings — a position it has held for three consecutive years, from 2023 to 2025.AdvertisementSo, the latest raps shouldn’t surprise anyone, especially those in charge, because WADA and AIU have been saying this for years.The twin warnings, nevertheless, have set off alarm bells, especially with India making an aggressive pitch to host the 2036 Olympic Games. After all, a lack of seriousness in tackling the doping menace contributed to Spain and Turkey losing the bid to host the 2020 Olympics to Japan.The government has swung into damage-control mode. Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has said they are “working towards introducing criminal provisions against those involved in administering or trafficking prohibited substances”. It remains to be seen if such laws are enforced because until now there has been a gap between what the government says and what it does. It isn’t, frankly, treating the issue with the seriousness and urgency it needs.Talk about criminalising doping has been doing the rounds for nearly a decade. In 2017, the National Anti-Doping Agency and the sports ministry proposed legislation that would have made doping a criminal offence, in sync with the laws that govern the usage of narcotics. Even back then, it was upon WADA’s insistence that India came up with the proposal that was, however, never materialised. In 2022, the Lok Sabha passed a bill to regulate doping in sport, but it did not make the consumption or trafficking of performance-enhancing drugs a criminal offence.Spending on anti-doping activities, too, has been slashed. In this year’s budget, NADA’s budget was reduced to Rs 20.3 crore, down from Rs 24.30 crore in the last financial year. Similarly, the National Dope-Testing Laboratory’s allocation came down to Rs 23 crore from Rs 28.55 crore.This, at a time when India is spending thousands of crores on building infrastructure for the 2030 Commonwealth Games and the 2036 Olympics, which the country may or may not get to host.Unlike in 2010, shoddy planning and delayed infrastructure may not sully India’s image come 2030, or even 2036. The country seems to have learnt its lessons on those fronts. However, it might be a challenge for India to ensure clean athletes compete in those Games if current trends persist.Currently, there are more than a dozen minors sanctioned for doping. It’s a disturbing pattern, pointing to a deeper problem within the ecosystem. A minor is unlikely to understand how doping works or where to procure the drugs from. The needle of suspicion then moves to the coaches, for whom producing champion athletes can open doors to recruiting more young trainees — it’s a business model. For the athlete, it can be a way out of poverty. After all, a national or international medal can secure a coveted government job, often in the police or armed forces.you may likeThis high-risk, high-reward and a medal-at-all-costs mentality creates a breeding ground for shortcuts. As the doping incidents rise, the integrity of the nation’s entire sporting foundation is called into question. It robs clean, hard-working athletes of glory.Think of that winter afternoon in Jaipur — Mori didn’t get the gold medal he deserved because there weren’t enough competitors on the starting line. It’s the price he paid for being honest.The writer is deputy associate editor, The Indian Express. mihir.vasavda@expressindia.com