Keen to bring Sports Bill in Budget Session: Mandaviya

New Delhi: Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday said the government is keen to bring the Sports Bill in the budget session of Parliament and is ready to tweak a few criteria so that more Indian sports administrators can seek bigger roles in international bodies.

"I won't let sports suffer... 95 percent want the Sports Bill to come. Yes, there are some small reservations from some NSFs (National sports Federations), which we will take care," he said.

"There are some clauses in the 70-year age provision which we need to consider. For example on the international platform, a person like Randhir Singh needed 50 years to build his rapport. He worked for all these years and has now become the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) president," said Mandaviya in an interaction with the media.

Soon after becoming OCA chief, Singh had asked the government to re-look at its policy which restricts the tenure of elected sports federation officials to three terms of four years each, saying it was a major hurdle in the way of Indian sports administrators seeking bigger roles in international bodies. Singh had said that 12 years was very little time for a sports administrator to make a mark at the national level, leave aside building relationships at the international level and seeking bigger roles there.

As per the Sports Code, a NSF chief can serve a maximum of 12 years, or three terms of four years each. Besides, the president, secretary and treasurer of NSFs cease to hold post on attaining the age of 70 years. "If I don't consider that thing (Singh's suggestion), no one from India can contribute to international sport. So, I have kept that window open. Whoever is in international platform, the 70-year rule doesn't apply on him or her," the minister added.

The minister also said that the government has introduced a seamless and user-friendly platform, called the National Sports Repository System (NSRS) for athletes, coaches and academies so that they can register themselves directly for awards and government schemes. Once registered, NSRS users can update their details, achievements and training history, among other information. It will also provide comprehensive performance assessment metrics, detailed reports, and analyses. Besides, NSRS will be integrated with the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) portal to streamline the direct disbursal of cash awards to athletes and coaches, thus ensuring efficiency and transparency. The ministry is also planning a workshop with NSFs to integrate their respective portals with NSRS as it will ensure the continuity of athlete information and establishe a comprehensive athlete history.

The system will also integrate with state governments and anti-doping portals, ensuring a unified repository for efficient management.

The minister said that the Khelo India Games would remain his ministry's top priority and the talent identified through the programme will also be integrated with NSRS. "For talent identification, Khelo India School Games, Khelo India University Games and Khelo India Youth Games will produce talents in the next three years. No federation can interfere in this.