Ministers block the National Sports Development Bill

Attempts to bring about transparency, accountability and efficiency in the functioning of the sports federations and the way the sports is run in the country received a "serious setback’’ as the Union Cabinet rejected the National Sports Development Bill 2011 at its meeting on Tuesday as Ministers "ganged up’’ to block the proposed legislation.

The Cabinet meeting, presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, witnessed heated exchanges and sharp divisions as the Ministers, representing interests of cricket and some other sports federations, raised strong objections on granting approval to the Bill at the nascent stage itself.

At the outset, Dr. Singh lauded the Bill in its present form and termed it as a "good legislation". He was backed by Home Minister P. Chidambaram, who supported the move by the Sports Ministry to bring about accountability and usher in fundamental changes in the way sports federations function in the country, often behind an opaque screen.

However, the move to bulldoze the Bill in the Cabinet meeting came surprisingly from within the Congress party, and was backed by its allies in the UPA government. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is learnt to have told the Cabinet that Parliament would never approve this Bill in the present form or scenario.

However, the Bill faced fierce opposition from Maharashtra strongman and Agriculture Minister, Sharad Pawar and his Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) colleague Praful Patel. In the present Cabinet, three Ministers – C.P. Joshi, Vilasrao Deshmukh and Farooq Abdullah - head cricket associations in their respective States, while Mr. Pawar is the president of International Cricket Council (ICC). Mr. Patel heads the All India Football Federation.

Mr. Pawar was so furious with the presentation of the Bill in the Cabinet that he threatened to take the matter to the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, and ensure that the Bill was not cleared. Referring to the issue of age bar of 70 years to hold office in any sports federation, Mr. Pawar is understood to have stated that if this was the criteria then nobody in this (Cabinet) room should be above 70 years of age.

He was backed by Mr. Patel, who termed the Bill as intrusive and something that would interfere with the running of the sports federations. Interestingly, they received support from none other than Union Surface Transport Minister, C.P. Joshi and Urban Development Minister, Kamal Nath.

The Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Farooq Abdullah, also took a strong exception to the introduction of the Bill, and especially to the age bar provision. "I am very young and can do all sorts of things that even youngsters cannot do. This Bill is not feasible,’’ he is learnt to have remarked.

Witnessing the acrimony over the Bill, the Prime Minister sought the opinion of the Cabinet whether the Bill should be referred to the Group of Ministers (GoM). At this instance, Mr. Chidambaram is understood to have suggested that the Sports Ministry should be asked to re-work the Bill. "Let us not throw the baby out of the basket,’’ he is understood to have commented.

At this point, the Prime Minister asked the Sports and Youth Affairs Minister, Ajay Maken to re-work the Bill and bring a proposed legislation that ensures transparency and efficient functioning of sports in the country.