New Delhi, Dec 8 (PTI) A Congress MP on Thursday asked the Centre to ensure timely elections in different sports federations and claimed that politicians and retired officials are holding main posts in all such bodies.
Participating in a discussion in the Lok Sabha on the promotion of sports in the country, G S Aujla alleged that the politicians and retired officials hold these posts only to enjoy business-class air travel and five-star hotel stay.
“Elections should be held within a timeframe,” Aujla said and suggested that make sports education be made mandatory while paralympic medal winners be given job security.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram demanded that besides compulsory physical training, it should be made mandatory for schools to have sports grounds.
Physical trainers should get respect like other teachers in a school, he said, adding sports should be made compulsory for taking up board examinations.
He also asked the government to build small stadiums and not big ones, claiming their utilisation is less. “The government must do an audit of large stadiums,” Chidambaram told the House.
He also suggested that the government should not bid for holding Olympics in India as “it would bankrupt the country”.
YSR Congress Party MP B Margani said politics in sports is impacting the sector in the country. India lacks world-class sports infrastructure and due to that the country gets fewer medals in the Olympics, he said.
“We have improved a lot but we need to take revolutionary steps to improve sports in India.” DMK’s K Kanimozhi also demanded that sports be made mandatory in schools.
BJP’s R Agarwal, J Meena, J S Sigriwal, Congress’ A Khaleeque and NCP’s S Patil also participated in the discussions.
Source: PTI News
