The Ministry of Sports has amended the provision of RTI of the National Sports Administration Bill under which only those institutions have been kept under its purview which are dependent on government grants and assistance and this will give a lot of relief to the BCCI.
Sports Minister Mansukh Mandavia made this bill in the Lok Sabha on 23 July, whose provision 15 (2) states that “a recognized sports organization will be considered a public authority under this Act under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 in relation to the use of its actions, duties and powers under this Act. ,
RTI has been a complicated issue for BCCI that has consistently opposed it under its being under the board, unlike other National Sports Federations (NSF). These apprehensions came to an end by amending the bill. A knowledgeable source said, “The amended provision defines the public authority as an institution that depends on government money or aid. With this amendment, the public authority has been clearly familiar. ‘
The source said, “If this was not done, it would have been an unclear area due to which the bill could have been stuck or it could be challenged in court.” Therefore, anything related to public money will come under the purview of RTI. “He further said,” Even if the National Federation is not taking government assistance, even if there is any government assistance in organizing or operation of its tournaments, then he can be questioned. Government assistance is not only in the context of money but also in the context of infrastructure. ”
The BCCI had earlier stated that it would study it before commenting on the bill. According to the RTI Act, the Public Authority is an institution or body made by a law made by the Parliament or the State Legislature. It also includes the government’s ownership, control or adequately funded body.
On the enactment of the Bill, the BCCI will have to register themselves as NSF as Cricket is going to make a debut in the T20 format at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. In the exercise of bringing accountability, the bill also provides for the National Sports Board (NSB) and all NSF will have to get recognition from the central government to seek financial assistance.
NSB will have a chairman and its members will be appointed by the Central Government. These appointments will be based on the recommendations of the Research cum Selection Committee. The committee will be headed by the Cabinet Secretary or Sports Secretary and will have two sports administrators of the Sports Authority of India who have been the Chairman, General Secretary or Treasurer in an NSF.
There will be a player who receives Dronacharya, Khel Ratna or Arjuna Award. Another important aspect of this is the National Sports Tribunal which will have the same powers as a civil court and will settle the controversies ranging from selections related to federations and athletes to elections. Once established, the decisions of the tribunal will be challenged only in the Supreme Court.
The bill is giving some concessions on the issue of age limit for administrators, under which people between the ages of 70 to 75 are allowed to contest elections, provided the rules and bye -laws of the international institutions concerned allow it. The age limit for contesting elections in the National Sports Code was fixed at 70 years.