The contentious revised Sports Development Bill has got a fresh thrust with the Aruna Roy-led civil society group, the National Campaign for Peoples’ Right to Information (NCPRI), throwing its weight behind the move to bring about transparency and accountability in the running of sports in the country.
The NCPRI statement signed by Team Anna member Prashant Bhushan along with others like Ms. Roy, Nikhil Dey, Shekhar Singh and Anjali Bharadwaj has expressed its approval for the draft bill that has been revised and sent for inter-ministerial consultations.
The NCPRI, in a statement, has suggested that exemptions to disclosure of information given in the draft National Sports Development Bill be done away with. The Bill, aimed at bringing sports federations under the purview of the RTI Act, was earlier returned by the Cabinet, which asked Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Ajay Maken to revise the legislation.
The NCPRI, which has been a strong campaigner for a transparent and participatory pre-legislative process in law-making, urged everyone to note that the Bill sought to set up grievance redress mechanisms along with an independent appellate tribunal, to ensure accountability in its internal functioning.
The statement quoted NCPRI members as saying that the Bill would bring transparency to the financial affairs of the sports bodies. “Every time a sports body receives financial or other assistance, including use of facilities for free or at non-commercial rates, the Sports Ministry makes it conditional for the sports body to accept the fact that it has been ‘substantially financed’ by the government for the purposes of any law in force,” it said.