The Central Government is planning to commission a study to be conducted by Indian Institute of Management (IIM)-Ahmedabad on recently concluded 12th South Asian Games held in Guwahati and Shillong, a top Union Sports and Youth Affairs Ministry official said at an ASSOCHAM event held in New Delhi today.
“We are thinking of commissioning a case study on South Asian Games to be done by IIM-Ahmedabad so that they can point out if there were any defects and what improvement can be done on it,” said Mr Rajiv Yadav, secretary, Department of Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports while inaugurating a conference on ‘Sports Governance & Policy Development,’ organised by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).
“It was a very-very smooth rollout of the games and this format needs to be watched, it is a case study to be made,” said Mr Yadav.
Quoting examples of conflict between organising committee and government in the Commonwealth Games and Afro-Asian Games, the secretary said, “The format of giving total independence to the organising committee was wrong, with the government footing the bill but watching from the sideline, then sending it to auditors or to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for an enquiry.”
“The format about independence of organising committee is not working because entire money is footed from the public exchequer, organising committee does not bring a diam,” said Mr Yadav. “Once you are taking public exchequer money you are responsible for it, so how can a federation or a committee not abide by conditions put on it once they have accepted the money.”
He said that given the history of Commonwealth Games and Afro-Asian Games, the government decided to change the format as such the organising committee was headed by the minister himself.
“The state governments were made part of the organising committee, so the format was completely changed from earlier games and we have had a resoundingly successful South Asian Games which were organised with lowest of cost and finest of output,” said Mr Yadav.
“So it would be better that government, if it gives funding for such games then it should also organise them,” he said.
“Synergy is the most important thing in sports and it will come about only when each of us recognise their respective role and we do not try to appropriate others' role and at the same time we keep the spirit of fairness and discipline in the games alive,” further said Mr Yadav.
In his address at the ASSOCHAM conference, Mr C.K. Mahajan (Retired Chief Justice), chairman, National Sports Code Committee informed that Sports Development Code 2016 was on the anvil.
“I am in the process of preparing Sports Development Code 2016 by holding discussions and seeking guidance from former sportsmen, sports journalists and together with relevant stakeholders in the sector,” said Mr Mahajan.
“We are still in the process of finalising that report,” he said without giving a specific timeline.
Lamenting on poor financial condition of various national sportsmen, Mr Mahajan said that government needs to play a very decisive and co-operative role in development of sports in India.
He also said that sportsmen in India have been neglected and have not been given their due and the government’s response is very pathetic and casual in this regard.
There is a lot to be done on the sports development front and the participation of government and various sports federations must go hand in hand.
