Federations must take ‘ checks’ sportingly

By S. Kannan

THERE is an old cliché that nothing can change in Indian sport.

But the winds of change which have blown in the Capital’s cold last week have sent shivers down the spines of the wise men known as Indian sports administrators.

This is the year of the Commonwealth Games and there is still pessimism in the air regarding the completion of stadia in time, organisational aspects that need to be sorted out and men who are supposed to control the show but never show professionalism.

But all that will change with an important verdict coming from the Delhi High Court according to which the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee ( OC) will now be accountable and answerable by coming under the purview of the RTI Act.

There were few things good — heard or said — about the men in the OC all along. And that is why the government decided that it was important to position key bureaucrats in there, so that New Delhi could get ready for the Games.

But the most heart- warming aspect is how people who will be getting the Capital ready for the Games will now have to account for every penny spent.

It is no secret that the sports ministry had filed a strong affidavit in the Delhi High Court last year pleading that the OC and the Indian Olympic Association come under the RTI Act.

During the course of my interactions with sports minister MS Gill, he had repeatedly stressed on how large government funds were being spent on the Games and the government has a right to know how and where it is being spent.

But inside the OC, people sitting in plush offices and drawing huge salaries would mock at all this and say: “ The OC is just taking a loan from the government ( over Rs 1,600 crore) and it will be repaid.” I am sure all those people from various banks who keep calling you and me and ask “ do you want a personal loan” would have laughed at such remarks from the OC officials.

Let me put it this way, the OC is just a body discharging duties on behalf of the Indian government.

So, all along if they were told that they should be accountable, why were they resisting it? I, for one, am never going to be convinced that these Games will make money, irrespective of OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi’s statement that “ big money will come from TV rights”. Now that the OC’s accountability comes under the purview of the RTI, you and I need not worry if the money will be spent in the right direction.

Already, there are some disgruntled officials whispering in the OC corridors how considerable amounts of time will be wasted replying to RTI queries.

My point is, when things are “ clean and transparent” and “ there is nothing to hide”, why even worry that the RTI is like some kind of a Damocles sword hanging above their heads.

Just as the OC comes under the RTI Act, it is also heartening to note that the Indian Olympic Association will also be made accountable.

All this controversy over the IOA and OC refusing to come under the RTI Act actually began two years back when a person filed an RTI merely wanting to know how much money had been spent on taking Bollywood stars for the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games closing ceremony.

Now the situation is that people will be tempted to ask the IOA and OC a lot of questions because of the way sport is run in the country.

And I am very happy to see today that Hockey India is left red- faced because it wanted to stage a farce called ‘ elections’ on January 29, which now has to be postponed.

Sports minister MS Gill deserves to be complimented for not allowing a sham to happen and suggesting elaborate election guidelines to the FIH and Hockey India.

All along, sports federation elections in India have been an eyewash, where people from various units would come, sign on a paper and walk away with their TA and DA allowances.

Whether the people deserved to get elected again and again for decades, nobody cared.

In fact, every single sports federation in the country needs to be answerable to the public at large, be it the National Rifle Association of India, which has no hesitation in training guns at its own marksmen or the shameless Indian Weightlifting Federation.

In fact, the weightlifting federation has again pulled cotton wool over the eyes of people at home by holding a farcical election in December.

Officials who were asked to quit on moral grounds got back to power with scant respect for principles.

Again, it is the sports ministry which is going to crack the whip as tainted officials will have to quit and ensure a clean body is in place. There are rumours that Karnam Malleswari could be the next secretary.

I surely don’t mind the winds of change which have been blowing.