A full-blown nexus !

K DATTA

Good governance in Indian sport may be a simple philosophy to propound on paper but is quite cumbersome to achieve due to the multiplicity of authority and multi-layered system of running sports in the country. The fact is poor governance has over past decades been the reason for the many ills afflicting Indian sport and those who take part in it. How to achieve good governance in Indian sport? This question should be uppermost in the minds of the government as well as all those responsible for promoting sports in the country. Unfortunately, sports management or administration has

till recently been focused on everything but sports and sportspersons. Administrators heading sports governance have been people with little interest or knowledge of the sport they had been connected with. They have been guided more by vested interests or self-promotion rather than any deep love for sport.

The concept of good governance in sports should be an article of faith of the government the country which should accord greater importance to the sports ministry both in terms of financial autonomy and administrators who run the department. Yet another reason behind the lamentable state of sports administration in the country had been a full-blown politician-bureaucrat nexus.

In its early years the Union sports ministry used to be an insignificant part of the ministry of human resource development. Later on, it was mostly headed by a minister of state with limited powers and even less financial allocations.
In a large measure the sports ministry came into focus during the UPA regime when senior Delhi Congress leader Ajay Maken was appointed as minister of state with independent charge. His credentials as a sports enthusiast, cricketer and administrator helped in initiating an era of good governance of sports notwithstanding the impediments created by certain sports bodies headed mostly by politicians and bureaucrats.
The present NDA government has done well by appointing an Olympic shooting medal winner Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore as sports minister with independent charge. This is a significant step in the direction of achieving good governance in sports, though not the only one. The minister alone would not be able to achieve good governance unless the entire system down-below is also professionalised.
As former sports minister Maken stated: "It is a good beginning to have an Olympian as the sports minister. The next step should be the Sports Authority of India (SAI) which is normally headed by a bureaucrat of Additional Secretary rank. This post should be publicly advertised, with one of the qualifications required of applicants being a good sports background. Preferably, he should be distinguished Olympian or someone who has represented India at international level. It could be someone like Vijay Amritraj, Prakash Padukone or Geet Sethi."
Achieving good governance in sports would entail focusing on three important aspects: 1. Administration of sports bodies, including Indian Olympic Association
2. Administration of Sports Ministry
3. Administration of Sports Authority of India

All the three components of sports administration should be manned by people connected with sports. It is unfortunate that politicians, bureaucrats and others with vested interests without any sporting background or knowledge have so far been dominating sports management. This trend has to be reversed, Mr Maken felt.

The sports minister should not be a part-time entity but one with a full-fledged Cabinet rank. The enhanced status of the minister would enable him/her to have a greater say in the government in terms of enhanced financial allocation and other facilities.

Ajay Maken Sportspersons should have direct access to the minister. As one who had opened all channels with sportspersons, Maken feels that a sports minister should at any given time be in direct contact with 250 to 300 top sportspersons aiming to win Olympic honours. On his part, the minister should be pro-actively available to sort out the problems of sportspersons.
Once such a ministersportspersons communication is achieved the rest of the administrative system should fall in line.
One major step to achieve good governance in sports should be to enact the much delayed sports bill as a law which Maken tried hard to do in the face of vested interests. The bill has provisions such as age and tenure norms for sports administrators, particularly those running sports federations. It provides for bringing sports bodies under the RTI and providing a dominant role to athletes.

The author is a veteran sports commentator.



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Unfortunately, sports management or administration has Good governance in Indian sport may be a simple philosophy to propound on paper but is quite cumbersome to achieve due to the multiplicity of authority and multi-layered system of running sports in the country. The fact is poor governance has over past decades been the reason for the many ills afflicting Indian sport and those who take part in it. till recently been focused on everything but sports and sportspersons. Administrators heading sports governance have been people with little interest or knowledge of the sport they had been connected with. They have been guided more by vested interests or self-promotion rather than any deep love for sport. The concept of good governance in sports should be an article of faith of the government the country which should accord greater importance to the sports ministry both in terms of financial autonomy and administrators who run the department. Yet another reason behind the lamentable state of sports administration in the country had been a full-blown politician-bureaucrat nexus. In its early years the Union sports ministry used to be an insignificant part of the ministry of human resource development. Later on, it was mostly headed by a minister of state with limited powers and even less financial allocations. In a large measure the sports ministry came into focus during the UPA regime when senior Delhi Congress leader Ajay Maken was appointed as minister of state with independent charge. His credentials as a sports enthusiast, cricketer and administrator helped in initiating an era of good governance of sports notwithstanding the impediments created by certain sports bodies headed mostly by politicians and bureaucrats. The present NDA government has done well by appointing an Olympic shooting medal winner Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore as sports minister with independent charge. This is a significant step in the direction of achieving good governance in sports, though not the only one. The minister alone would not be able to achieve good governance unless the entire system down-below is also professionalised. As former sports minister Maken stated: "It is a good beginning to have an Olympian as the sports minister. The next step should be the Sports Authority of India (SAI) which is normally headed by a bureaucrat of Additional Secretary rank. This post should be publicly advertised, with one of the qualifications required of applicants being a good sports background. Preferably, he should be distinguished Olympian or someone who has represented India at international level. It could be someone like Vijay Amritraj, Prakash Padukone or Geet Sethi." Achieving good governance in sports would entail focusing on three important aspects: 1. Administration of sports bodies, including Indian Olympic Association 2. Administration of Sports Ministry 3. Administration of Sports Authority of India All the three components of sports administration should be manned by people connected with sports. It is unfortunate that politicians, bureaucrats and others with vested interests without any sporting background or knowledge have so far been dominating sports management. This trend has to be reversed, Mr Maken felt. The sports minister should not be a part-time entity but one with a full-fledged Cabinet rank. The enhanced status of the minister would enable him/her to have a greater say in the government in terms of enhanced financial allocation and other facilities. Ajay Maken Sportspersons should have direct access to the minister. As one who had opened all channels with sportspersons, Maken feels that a sports minister should at any given time be in direct contact with 250 to 300 top sportspersons aiming to win Olympic honours. On his part, the minister should be pro-actively available to sort out the problems of sportspersons. Once such a ministersportspersons communication is achieved the rest of the administrative system should fall in line. One major step to achieve good governance in sports should be to enact the much delayed sports bill as a law which Maken tried hard to do in the face of vested interests. The bill has provisions such as age and tenure norms for sports administrators, particularly those running sports federations. It provides for bringing sports bodies under the RTI and providing a dominant role to athletes. The author is a veteran sports commentator.