Sports Bill to be introduced in Winter Session of Parliament

The government today said that the National Sports Development Bill was "ready" and it will be introduced in Parliament in the upcoming winter session of the House.
"The Bill is ready and circulated to all the stake holders. After a change in the government, fresh comments were sought. IOA has been dragging its feet but we will present the Bill in the next session of the Parliament," Ajit Sharan, Secretary Sports, said at a press conference.
All the National Sports Federations (NSFs) accredited to the government need to comply with the stipulations that office bearers retire at the age of 70 years and except for the President who is allowed three consecutive terms, none of the other office-bearers would be eligible to contest a third term immediately after completing two successive terms.

IOA had initially objected to age and tenure guidelines even as some NSFs have already implemented them.
Sharan made the statement in presence of Sports Minister Sarbanand Sonowal, who through his secretaries, made a presentation, listing achievements after completing 100 days in the office and policies for future.
Sonowal, who hails from the North East, that his ministry was committed to support sportspersons so that they can "realise their potential".

Talking about accountability of NSFs, Sharan said it was "delicate matter".
"The NSFs are autonomous bodies and subject to RTI. They have been advised to put information on their websites, relating to expenditure, (criteria for) selection of athletes, money spent on office bearers. By putting this information in public domain is part of accountability," he said.

Asked specifically about BCCI if the government was a failure to bring the cricket board under the RTI, Sharan said they were not.
"The High Court in Chennai has put a stay and we could not get that vacated but efforts have been there to bring BCCI within the ambit of RTI," Sharan explained.