NEW DELHI: Sports Minister MS Gill on Monday came to national hockey coach Jose Brasa’s aid and asked the Sports Authority of India to expedite the purchase of the equipments sought by the Spaniard.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the national camp in Pune, Brasa rued his demand for some basic equipments had fallen on deaf ears.
Sports Ministry sources said that Gill called SAI Director General Sayan Chatterjee and asked him to look into Brasa’s grievances.
“The Minister has taken note of all that appeared in the media about equipments. He has instructed DG, SAI to expedite the equipment procurement process,” the source said.
Brasa’s main allegation was that he had asked for basic equipments like laptops, GPS software, soft balls and heart-rate monitoring machine but all he got was promise and nothing else.
SAI Joint Secretary and Special Officer for Commonwealth Games Pravir Krishn, however, blamed the delay on lukewarm response from the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM).
“The government has put in place a system which we cannot bypass. Hockey India (HI) and the Chief Coach (Brasa) have asked for equipments worth Rs 66 lakh and they have identified some OEMs from Europe, including Spain.
“Now as is the process, we issued tender in September but out of 13, only three have replied within the 21-day deadline. So I talked to the HI President (AK Mattoo) and asked him to give us alternatives. Now what else can we do?” he said.
Krishn made it clear that online purchase was just not an option under the norms.
Both the Spanish coach and HI have been asked to acquaint themselves with the government’s procurement process, he added.