Sports ministry wants to bring defiant BCCI under RTI

Despite open defiance by the BCCI, the government Wednesday said it wanted to bring the powerful cricket body under the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

The government has declared all National Sports Federations (NSFs) receiving grant of Rs.10 lakh or more in a year as public authorities under the RTI Act but the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has contested it saying it does not get any government grants.

Last year, the BCCI also got a stay order from the Madras High Court against appearing before the Central Information Commission (CIC).

Sports Minister Sarbanabda Sonowal, while responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Wednesday said the government has formulated the National Sports Development Bill to bring BCCI under the ambit of RTI.

"The Government has also formulated a draft of the National Sports Development Bill to bring all the National Sports Federations and the BCCI under the RTI Act with the provision of exclusion clause of protecting personal/confidential information relating to athletes," Sonowal said.

The minister also said that he was aware of the several controversies in the BCCI but ruled out any intentions of taking over the cricket body.

"BCCI is an autonomous body registered under the Societies Act. It is not feasible for the Government to take over and run the day to day activities of BCCI. Several controversies about BCCI regarding allotment of franchisees, match fixing, betting etc., reported in sections of print and electronic media, have come to the notice of the Government. Various agencies of the government namely the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax and Service Tax Department have conducted inquiries into the allegations of the irregularities involving the BCCI in the country," Sonowal added.

Sonowal also said that government was also working on check unfair practices and get rid of match-fixing.

"In order to curb match fixing and other unfair practices in sports, Ministry of Law has prepared a draft legislation has sought the views of the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs," Sonowal said.