All stakeholders should work together for betterment of sports, says Ranjyavardhan Singh Rathore
With the corporate houses looking to invest in various sports in India, sports minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has stated that all the stakeholders should come together for the betterment of sports in the country. He has also requested NSFs to be transparent and accountable to the corporates.
Indian sports have seen a watershed moment after Rathore took charge of the sports ministry and he started working on his vision and successfully staged the Khelo India Games. And now with the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games being less than a month away, the sports ministry has asked all the stakeholders of different sports to come together so that Indian sports can be benefited as a whole.
"Indian athletes carry the expectations of the whole nation. The prestige of the country is at stake when they enter field hence all the stakeholders should work together for the betterment of sports and sports-persons. I know them for many years and all are good friends. I am sure we will work together to make India sporting power," said Rathore reported PTI.
Rathore became the first sportsperson to be handed the Sports minister's job in the country. He and his team have been working on the smooth process of letting different sporting events take place with a complete overhaul of the system.
"We are in process of changing the way of functioning on the go. We are taking policy decisions in minutes. Earlier project officers or undersecretaries, without having knowledge of sports, used to deal with sports bodies but we are changing that. Decisions will be taken by those who understand sports. We even want to outsource our academies," said the 48-year-old.
He added that the Indian government does not want to interfere in the operational part of different sporting events in the country but insists that the full professionalism should be maintained. He also wants politics to stay away from sports but also agreed to the fact that sports have been the power projects in boosting country’s recognition all over the world.
"We have successfully organized Khelo India games in a short span. It's not like that that we can't run the sports in the country but we don't want to do that. We have our hands full. Whoever runs the sport be it professionals, NSFs or private partners, the approach should be professional," said the 2004 Olympic silver medalist.
"As far as politics in sports federations is concerned, it should be away but finally sport is one of the soft power projections in the country and players are representative of a country.
As experts from various sports decide on the athlete to take part in an event without government’s interference he said, “It is for the experts who select teams for the games to comment on expected medal tally but we have not let any stone unturned as far as preparations are concerned. Now being a sportsman also I want them to give their best keeping the training in mind. Players and officials should also know that discipline and fair play is paramount as they are the ambassadors of the country," said the minister on being asked about the number of medals he was expecting from the Indian contingent at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
"It is good for a sporting fraternity that one amongst them has got the opportunity. Together we will show that a player can provide smooth administration as well. This opportunity should be given to them in NSFs also. The right combination is needed," he added.
For having sports to prosper in a country lot of money needs to be put into an athlete's training. It has either solely been a corporate house or the government to provide with necessary investment for a player in a particular sport. But sometimes it has also been seen that a player may partially be sponsored by both the government and private houses.
"Corporate sector is eager to support sports but they should be given the assurance that their money is going in right hands. Transparency and accountability is the must," said Rathore on the problems corporate sector face while sponsoring a sport
"Raising funds should not be exclusive to us. We are always there to help whenever needed but we want them to become financially independent. Corporates are ready to invest but they (NSFs) should ensure transparency and accountability," added the 2005 Padma Shri awardee.
"They can raise funds despite getting government grants. Both are not exclusive to each other. It's high time that they should take initiatives to raise money on their own. Sports like wrestling, hockey and badminton are generating money through various leagues but we are funding them," said the celebrated shooter when asked about whether the government is planning to cut down on the grants given to NSFs.
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