New Delhi: If India have to do well in hockey they have to turn professional, and learn from Pakistan. Pakistan Hock ey Federation’s recent decision to pay it’s coaches and selectors has found many takers in India with several experts calling for a change in the existing practice.

In India, the coaches and selectors hold honorary positions and are thus not entitled to receive money for their services, except the salary they get from their parent organisations. But such a system is killing the game in the country, feel experts.

“Pay the coaches and selectors. It will not only make them more responsible, but also ensure that they remain accountable,’’ said former coach Vasudevan Baskaran, who has coached the Indian team on several occasions in the past, including the 2000 Sydney Olympics and 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Baskaran said India should take inspiration from the foreign model where coaches are paid and treated as professionals. “Look at Australia and New Zealand, they pay their coaches who are professionals. Unfortunately in India, the case is quite the opposite. How can you expect the coaches to deliver when they are not financially rewarded?’’ he asked.

Baskaran, who captained India to Olympic gold at the Moscow Olympics in 1980, said he had raised the issue when he was in charge two years back, but no one showed interest in his idea. “The end result was that while on duty, I ended up paying from my pocket on several occasions. You can’t do that all the time.”

Jagbir Singh, also a former Olympian and coach, said that not only the coaches and the selectors, but the players should also be paid. “Such a thing should have been in place long time back. Pakistan has done a great thing by deciding to abolish the honorary positions. It will help them take the game ahead,” Jagbir said.

Ajit Pal Singh, chief of the national selection committee, added:”Professionalism is very important. When you pay, it works wonders. Honorary positions are of no value. Pay people money for their work and then only expect results from them.”

The problem with hockey is that it’s still an amateur sport. When India recruits a foreign coach, it gives him around $3000-$4000 per month but an Indian coach gets nothing. “There’s no provision for payment to coaches and selectors except the normal allowances (around $20 dollars per day) for foreign tours and free boarding and lodging for camps or competitions at home,” confirmed executive director of Sports Authority of India (SAI) RK Naidu.