Maken hopeful of getting Sports Bill cleared next time

Aug 31, 2011 |

Agencies

New Delhi

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The National Sports Bill might have been rejected for now but Sports Minister Ajay Maken today said he remains confident that it will get the cabinet's approval the next time around.

Maken sees the development as a setback but will try and complete the finetuning work of the bill as quickly as possible.

"We are waiting for the minutes of the cabinet meeting. Once we get that, we will start reworking the National Sports Development Bill and place it before the cabinet again," Maken said.

"We will consult the ministers to know their specific objections and address those as much as possible in the bill. Hopefully we will be able to get the cabinet's clearance next time around," he said.

Maken did not give a timeframe on when he would complete the finetuning work but admitted that it would no longer be possible to introduce the bill in this monsoon session of the parliament.

The Sports Ministry was keen to get the bill passed by parliament in the ongoing monsoon session but the cabinet's rejection has put a spanner.

Maken said that his sole intention is to bring about transparency and accountability in sports and he was convinced that the bill will serve the purpose.

"We are not trying to control any federations. All we want is for them to be transparent and efficient. We want them to come under the Right to Information Act (RTI) and to have age restrictions," Maken was quoted as saying.

"Can the BCCI tell me how much money did they spend for the land to build Kotla (in Delhi) and other stadia? They get free land. I'm not saying show us your accounts... they should show it to the public. BCCI does not take any grants from the government, but if there is nothing to hide then why worry from RTI," added the minister.

The cabinet had yesterday rejected the bill with ministers such as ICC President Sharad Pawar, Mumbai Cricket Association chief Vilasrao Deshmukh and J&K Cricket Association head Farooq Abdullah opposing it.

The Ministers felt that the bill was seeking to control rather than facilitate the development of sports and had raised objections on the age and tenure restrictions.

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