Rajya Sabha Secretariat, New DelhiAugust, 2015/Sravana, 1937 (Saka)

PARLIAMENT OF INDIA

DEPARTMENT-RELATED PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE

RAJYA SABHA

ON HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

REPORT NO.

270

TWO HUNDRED SEVENTIETH REPORT

Performance of National Sports Development Fundand

Recruitment and Promotion of Sportspersons(Part I)

(Presented to the Rajya Sabha on 13th August, 2015)(Laid on the Table of Lok Sabha on 13th August, 2015)

Website: http://rajyasabha.nic.inE-mail: rsc-hrd@sansad.nic.in

PARLIAMENT OF INDIARAJYA SABHA

DEPARTMENT-RELATED PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEEON HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

TWO HUNDRED SEVENTIETH REPORT

Performance of National Sports Development Fundand

Recruitment and Promotion of Sportspersons(Part I)

(Presented to the Rajya Sabha on 13th August, 2015)(Laid on the Table of Lok Sabha on 13th August, 2015)

Rajya Sabha Secretariat, New DelhiAugust, 2015/Sravana, 1937 (Saka)

Hindi version of this publication is also available

CONTENTS

PAGES

1. COMPOSITION OF THE COMMITTEE ......................................................................................... (i)—(ii)

2. PREFACE .................................................................................................................................. (iii)

3 ACRONYMS .............................................................................................................................. (iv)

4. REPORT .................................................................................................................................. 1—22

5. OBSERVATIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE — AT A GLANCE ......................... 23—28

6. MINUTES ................................................................................................................................. 29—36

7. ANNEXURE ............................................................................................................................... 37—40

(i)

COMPOSITION OF THE COMMITTEE(Constituted w.e.f. 1st September, 2014)

#1. Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda — Chairman*2. Dr. Satyanarayan Jatiya

RAJYA SABHA3. Prof. Jogen Chowdhury4. Prof. M.V. Rajeev Gowda5. Shri Anubhav Mohanty6. Dr. Bhalchandra Mungekar7. Shri Vishambhar Prasad Nishad8. Shri Basawaraj Patil9. Shri Sharad Pawar

10. Shrimati Sasikala Pushpa11. Shri Tiruchi Siva

LOK SABHA12. Shrimati Santosh Ahlawat13. Shri Bijoy Chandra Barman14. Shri C.R. Chaudhary15. Shrimati Bhawana Gawali16. Shrimati Kothapalli Geetha

$17. Dr. Ramshankar Katheria18. Prof. Chintamani Malviya19. Shri Bhairon Prasad Mishra20. Shri Chand Nath21. Shri Hari Om Pandey22. Dr. Bhagirath Prasad23. Shri N.K. Premachandran24. Shri K.N. Ramachandran25. Shri Mullappaly Ramachandran26. Shri Sumedhanand Saraswati27. Shri M.I. Shanavas28. Dr. Nepal Singh29. Dr. Prabhas Kumar Singh30. Shri P.R. Sundaram31. Shri Ajay Tamta32. Shrimati P.K. Sreemathi Teacher

@33. Shri Anant Kumar Hegde

# Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda was elevated to Minister of Health and Family Welfare on 9.11.2014.* Dr. Satyanarayan Jatiya nominated as a member and Chairman of the Committee w.e.f. 26.11.2014.$ Dr. Ramshankar Katheria was elevated to Minister of State, Human Resource Development on 9.11.2014.@ Shri Anant Kumar Hegde nominated as a member of the Committee w.e.f. 25.3.2015.

(ii)

SECRETARIAT

Shri R.B. Gupta, Joint Secretary

Shri Mahesh Tiwari, Director

Shri Vinay Shankar Singh, Joint Director

Shrimati Himanshi Arya, Assistant Director

(iii)

INTRODUCTION

I, the Chairman of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on HumanResource Development, having been authorized by the Committee, present this Two Hundred andSeventieth Report of the Committee on the ‘Performance of National Sports Development Fund andRecruitment and Promotion of Sportspersons’- Part I.

2. The Committee visited the Sports Complex and Regional Centres of Sports Authority ofIndia at Kolkata, Bengaluru and Mumbai. The Committee held wide ranging discussions with anumber of outstanding and distinguished sportspersons including Padamshri, Arjuna andDronacharya awardees, coaches, representatives of National/State-Level Federations/Associations.The Committee also heard the views of representatives of SAI, UCO Bank, United Bank of India,Allahabad Bank, Coal India Limited Damodar Valley Corporation, Central Bank of India, State Bankof India, Union Bank of India, Bank of India, IDBI Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Bank of Baroda,Dena Bank and LIC, Indian Oil, BPCL, HPCL, Air India, BEML, BEL, HAL, Canara Bank, StateBank of Mysore, Vijaya Bank, Syndicate Bank and Corporation Bank to have an idea about theircontribution to the National Sports Development Fund and to explore how they can promote sportsand recruitment of sportspersons.

3. The Committee also interacted with the Secretary, Department of Sports, AdditionalSecretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Secretary, Department of Financial Services (DFS),Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises, Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training andDirector General, Sports Authority of India (SAI) in its meeting held on the 17th July, 2015.

4. The Committee considered the Draft Report on the subject and adopted the same in itsmeeting held on the 10th August, 2015.

5. The list of witnesses heard by the Committee on the subject is attached in Annexure.

6. For facility of the reference, observations and recommendations of Committee have beenprinted in bold letters at end of Report.

NEW DELHI; DR. SATYANARAYAN JATIYAAugust 10, 2015 Chairman,

Sravana 19,1937 (Saka) Department-related ParliamentaryStanding Committee on Human Resource Development Rajya Sabha.

ACRONYMS

AIFF : All India Football Federation

BCCI : Board of Control for Cricket in India

BHEL : Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd.

BOI : Bank of India

BPCL : Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd.

BSB : Banks’ Sports Control Board

CIL : Coal India Limited

CISPA : Coal India Sports Promotion Association

CPSE : Central Public Sector Enterprises

CSR : Corporate Social Responsibility

DoPT : Department of Personnel and Training

DVC : Damodar Valley Corporation

GoI : Government of India

HPCL : Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited

IBA : Indian Banks’ Association

lOB : Indian Overseas Bank

IOC : Indian Oil Corporation

ITC : Imperial Tobacco Company of India Ltd.

LIC : Life Insurance Corporation of India

MoF : Ministry of Finance

NSDF : National Sports Development Fund

ONGC : Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited

PSBs : Public Sector Banks

PSUs : Public Sector Undertakings

SAI : Sports Authority of India

SAIL : Steel Authority of India Limited

SBI : State Bank of India

SCB : Sports Control Board

TISCO : Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited

TOP : Target Olympic Podium

TTFI : Table-Tennis Federation of India

UBI : Union Bank of India

UCO : United Commercial Bank

(iv)

1

REPORT

INTRODUCTION

Sports and games are an integral component in the all round development of humanpersonality. Apart from being a means of entertainment and physical fitness, sports also playeda great role in generating the spirit of healthy competition and bonding within the community.Although India has a large population, its achievements in international sports have not beencommensurate. Considering the fact that Indian population is one of the youngest populationin the world, India has an immense potential in developing into a powerhouse of sports.Through its various sports promotional schemes/programmes, the Government, nurtures talentin youth, and provides them with requisite infrastructure, equipments, coaching facilities andcompetition exposure for overall development of sports. It is a known fact that excellence insports has a great bearing on national prestige and morale of the country. Thus Governmentspending on sports is an important indicator of the promotion of sports. There is no denyingthe fact that India is lagging far behind the other countries in achieving excellence in thesports. One of the reasons for this state of affairs is lack of funding in the sports sector. TheGovernment of India and the State Governments together spend only around 3 paise per capitaper day on sports which highlights the low level of spending on sports. Worldwide sportssector has a mix of private and public investment. In India it is largely a State funded activity.As the next Olympic games are approaching, the focus is once again on sports, skillaugumentation, training, coaching, competition, state of art equipments and better supportservices to the sportspersons.

2. In the light of this background, the Committee decided to discuss broadly the subject‘Promotion of Sports’ during its visit to Kolkata, Mumbai and Bengaluru from 1st to 7th July,2015. While discussing the promotion of sports, sports promotion policies and fund mobilizationfor sports with the public sector banks/public sector undertakings the Committee discovered thatmost of the Public Sector Banks and Public Sector Undertakings did not have any definite anduniform sports promotion policy in the first place. Further, they were also unaware of the existenceof the National Sports Development Fund created by the Government of India to promote sportsin a sustained manner. The question of contributing to that fund as a social responsibility was notof much importance to them. In view of this scenario, the Committee also decided to deliberateupon the performance of National Sports Development Fund and interact with all the stakeholderson the issue.

(I)

PERFORMANCE OF NATIONAL SPORTS DEVELOPMENT FUND

3. The Central Government had established the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) in1998 under the Charitable Endowment Act, 1890, with a view to mobilizing resources from theGovernment as well as non-governmental sources, including the private/corporate sector and non-resident Indians, for promotion of sports and games in the country. In order to make contributionsto the fund attractive, cent percent exemption from income tax was made available on all thecontributions to the National Sports Development Fund. Financial Assistance is given from NSDFto the Following:

2

— to outstanding sportspersons, sports federations and other organizations;

— top level sports persons who are medal winning prospects in Olympics,Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and other international competitions;

— assistance is given for customized training to sportspersons both in India and abroadto prepare them for winning medals at international events;

— special support to the sportspersons who have been selected under the programmeTOP (Target Olympic Podium), a Scheme, specifically devised to train medal prospectsfor Olympic 2016 and 2020; and

— financial assistance is given to reputed organizations/institutes, engaged in thepromotion of sports and games for specific projects like creation of infrastructure,procurement of state of art equipment etc.

4. It will not be out of place to mention here that in 1995 the Department-related ParliamentaryStanding Committee on Human Resource Development in its 34th Report on “India’s Performancein International Sports” had recommended as under:-

“The Committee feels that the Government alone cannot deliver the goods. Public andPrivate Sectors’ involvement is necessary in supplementing the governmental efforts. TheCommittee, therefore, emphasizes the need for a joint and coordinated approach by all theagencies, including public and private sectors, in pooling their resources to promote sportsin the country. This is particularly necessary in the context of financial constraints, bothat the Central and State levels”.

5. At that time, the Committee discussed at length the involvement of Public and Private sectorin the Promotion of Sports. The Committee had detailed interactions with many reputed Public andPrivate sector companies/undertakings such as TISCO, ITC, Hinduja, Escorts, UCO Bank, SBI,IOB, BHEL, IOC, ONGC, Air India, Indian Airlines, SAIL, Peerless, Sanghi Group, CIL, Punjab andSind Bank etc. on the subject.

6. The Committee, in its above Report, had also recommended that each major industrialhouse, both public and private sector, should be asked to adopt one sports discipline and theyshould take the total responsibility of scouting talent and nurturing the same, including theirparticipation in various national and international events. On reciprocal basis, the concernedindustrial house should have its nominee in the concerned national federation/association. TheCommittee again reiterates its recommendation and also suggests that major industrialhouse should adopt, at least, one sport discipline and nurture the same if sports culture inthis country is to be evolved.

7. It also emerged out of those deliberations, that contributions were being received fromorganizations at that time also but there was no mechanism for keeping and managing thatcontribution. After the above said Report of the Committee, the Ministry of Youth Affairs andSports and Government of India (GOI) had established the National Sports Development Fund in1998. However, since its inception adequate funds could not be collected which indicates thatthe Department did not make sincere efforts to approach the Corporate and the Publicsector for contribution to the Fund.

8. In its 34th Report the Committee had also pointed out that there has been a lot ofduplication of efforts by the various sports control boards and bodies like Railways, P&T, Banks,Steel Plants etc. in promotion of sports without any co-ordination with each other. The Committeehad further pointed out that there was also a lack of co-operation and communication betweendifferent bodies, boards, SAI and sports federations. The Committee was not happy with thechaotic situation and the lack of co-ordination between the various bodies leading to wastage ofscarce funds and time.

3

9. The Committee finds that the situation has not improved till now. The NSDF corpusis still scarce, not many public and private organizations are coming forward to contributeto the Fund and there is a lot of overlapping in promotion of sports as respectiveorganizations are following their own pattern so far as development of sports is concerned.Further, the Committee notes that even from the scarce resources available with the NSDF,there is laxity on the part of the Department in spending the same which shows lack ofcommitment on the part of the Department to promote sports in true earnest. TheCommittee, therefore, recommends that the Department of Sports and SAI should takesteps to evolve an effective mechanism for regular dialogue and co-ordination with thesports boards of the various organizations and federations so that duplication of efforts andwastage of precious time and scarce fund is avoided.

10. So far as the performance of the National Sports Development Fund is concerned, theCommittee understands that it has a mandate to give financial assistance for various activities foroverall promotion of sports in the country. Accordingly, the Fund is supposed to have continuousflow of funds in the form of contributions and donations from various sources. The Committee wasgiven to understand that with the establishment of Fund in 1998, the Central Government made acontribution of `2.00 crore as seed money. After that, the Government’s contribution to the fund ison matching basis to the contributions received from other sources/donors. As on 31.12.2014, theNational Sports Development Fund had a corpus of `113.14 crore only. It was also informed thatover the years most generous contribution to this fund came from BCCI and JP industries. Otherwisesmall amount of donations were being made to the Fund by the other organizations both governmentand private. The following table indicates the contributions made to NSDF since its inception:-

Year Name of the Donor Amount Governmentdonated of India( in `) matching

contribution(in `)

1 2 3 4

1998-99 - - 2,00,00,000(Seed Money)

1999-2000 Rural Electrification Power Corporation Ltd. 5,00,000 1,60,000

Oriental Bank of Commerce 5,00,000

M/s Balmer Lawrie & Co Ltd 1,00,000

Punjab National Bank 50,000

National Mineral Development Corporation 10,000

TOTAL 11,60,000

2000-01 Naptha Jhakri Power Corporation Ltd 2,00,000 1,25,00,000

Power Finance Corporation 2,00,000

Shri Kapil Dev (he had contributed `77.41 Lacs 1,21,00,000

during 1994-95; this amount, lying unutilized inthe National Welfare Fund for sportspersons, withinterest transferred to NSDF with the consent of

Shri Kapil Dev)

TOTAL 1,25,00,000

4

2001-02 Housing and Urban Development Corporation 25,00,000 25,00,000

Limited (HUDCO)

TOTAL 25,00,000

2002-03 - - -

2003-04 Punjab National Bank 5,00,000 19,46,050

Export Import Bank of India 5,00,000

Bank of India 50,000

Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd. 1,00,000

North Eastern Electric Power Corporation of India 20,000

State Bank of Mysore 25,000

National Mineral Development Corporation 25,000

Union Bank of India 1,00,000

State Bank of India 5,00,000

Central Bank of India 1,25,000

Shri KS Rana 300

Shri K P Kanhaiya 250

Shri S K Gupta 500

TOTAL (2003-04) 19,46,050

2004-05 Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. 5,00,000 1983599

Videocon International Ltd 1,20000

State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur 20000

Oriental Bank of Commerce 300000

Puzzolan Machinery Fabricators 400000

Funds collected through Flag Distribution on 643649National Sports Day

TOTAL (2004-05) 1983649

2005-06 Jindal Steel and Power Ltd 2500000 2879027

Funds collected through flag distribution on 378352National Sports Day

TOTAL 2878352

2006-07 Funds collected through flag distribution on 84219National Sports Day

TOTAL 84219

2007-08 Steel Authority of India Ltd.(SAIL) 10000000 50000000

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) 150000000

TOTAL 160000000

2008-09 Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) 350000000 102500000

TOTAL 350000000

1 2 3 4

5

2009-10 Rai Foundation 1000000 81200000

State Government of Madhya Pradesh 10000000

State Government of Haryana 10000000

TOTAL 21000000

2010-11 200000000

2011-12 State Government of Maharashtra 10000000 50000000

Jaypee Sports International Limited 100000000

TOTAL 110000000

2012-13 Jaypee Sports International Limited 100000000 50000000

TOTAL 100000000

2013-14 Jaypee Sports International Limited 100000000 50000000

Individual contribution 20

TOTAL 10000020 37500000

2014-15

GRAND TOTAL (As on 31.03.2014) 86,40,52,290 61,41,68,676

11. The Committee learnt that BCCI gave maximum contribution to NSDF. However, theincome tax exemption was denied to them. The income tax authorities stated that BCCI wasengaged in cricket, so their involvement in other sports is not justified. The Committee considersthis the most bizarre justification to extract income tax. The Committee feels that RevenueDepartment has not understood the spirit of NSDF. Many organization whether PSUs, Banks orPrivate Organization have their own core business, however, they have been contribution to thecause of sports, while the BCCI being richest sports body is morally bound to help other sportsin the country.

12. The Committee hopes that in future also, the BCCI will give its generous contribution. TheCommittee also directs Department of Revenue to understand the spirit of NSDF as thecontributions towards this Fund cannot be charged for income tax. If at all this has been done inthe past it should be reversed with true sportsman spirit.

13. During its interaction with the Public Sector Banks and Public Sector Undertakings atKolkata, Mumbai and Bengaluru on the promotion of Sports and contribution to NSDF, thefollowing facts emerged with regard to promotion of sports and performance of the NSDF:

— Coal India Limited has its own Sports Policy according to which all activities forpromotion of Sports and Culture of CIL and its subsidiary companies are conductedunder the aegis of Coal India Sports Promotion Association (CISPA) which is anautonomous body, registered under West Bengal Societies Registration Act, 1961 in2013.

— However, under the Sports Policy of Coal India Limited there is a provision that allcoal companies will contribute @25 paise per tonne of coal produced (in the previousyear) and non-coal producing companies will also contribute as per decision takenfrom time to time to the corpus for CISPA for conducting promotional activitiesregarding sports and culture.

1 2 3 4

6

— Contributions of the subsidiary companies for the last two financial years are givenbelow:

Company Contribution in ` lakh

2014-15 2015-16

ECL 90.14 100.03

BCCL 81.54 86.28

CCL 125.06 139.10

NCL 171.60 181.21

WCL 99.32 102.87

SECL 310.65 320.69

MCL 276.10 303.45

TOTAL 1154.40 1233.62

— United Bank of India (UBI) submitted that the CSR activities of the Bank are generallyrelated with the development of the weaker sections of the society on cluster basis.However, the bank draws up annual plan of expenditure for promotion of sports andgames within the institution. As bank incurred loss of `1231 crore during financial year2013-14 still under stress on profit and capital, no fund has been earmarked for CSRto be spent on sports.

— The Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) submitted that over the year DVC has madea conscious effort through its CSR activities to promote sports in rural areas andamong the local community and especially amongst the indigenous tribal population.The budget allocation for CSR activities of DVC clearly earmarked for promotion ofrural sports. The amount so allocated varied year to year depending on the programmeidentified but it generally varies from 3 to 5 per cent of the budget allocated for socioeconomic development part of CSR.

— On the issue of contribution to NSDF the SBI Chairman submitted that as per recordsthe Bank is not making any specific contributions to NSDF. Further, as the Bank istaking care of the training needs and other sporting needs / requirements of thesportspersons, there was no occasion for making any specific contributions to NSDF.However, this did not deter the Bank from honouring the noted sportspersons of thecountry for their excellent performances at the International levels as and when theoccasion has demanded for the purpose.

— The ONGC submitted that ONGC had an approved Corporate Sports Policy since 1998and revised in 2008. Promotion of sports activities is being governed in ONGC throughthis. ONGC has a positive and forward looking approach vis-a-vis promotion of sportsthrough the provisions of Corporate Social Responsibility. Consequent upon theamendment to Schedule VII of the Companies Act 2013, ONGC has given additionalfocus to promote nationally recognized sports including sports that are popular in ruralareas. Through its efforts the Corporate Sports Division had made ONGC a premierorganization in India for implementing the given sports policy for promotion of sports.

7

— As far as ONGC is concerned the representative added that ONGC was allocating 2%of Net Profit every year to CSR as per the guidelines of Government of India, andexpenditure on many sports activities is met from the CSR funds. A substantial amountof CSR fund was earmarked / utilized for sports and there has not been any instancewhen sports activity is not undertaken due to lack of fund.

14. From the above discussions the Committee can conclude that most of the PublicSector Banks and Public Sector Undertakings were not aware of the existence of theNational Sports Development Fund or were linking it with the Corporate SocialResponsibility (CSR) activities.

15. The Committee also found that the Banks and CPSUs were spending crores of rupeesevery year independently in the name of sports mainly for entertainment purposes or fortheir commercial publicity in the form of giving sponsorship to tournaments, annual meetssmaller cash awards at local levels, except some of them like ONGC, Indian Oil, Air India,HAL and a few banks. There is no coordination/linkage of any kind amongst them in thisregard. The Committee also found that the direction of and the manner which sportsactivities are being done is not going to develop sports in the country. The Committee isnot for stopping such activities being undertaken by banks/PSUs, it feels that the moniescurrently being spent could be put to much better use if a good part of it goes to NSDF,a centralized and specialized mechanism for the development of sports in the country. Italso came up during the deliberations with these PSUs/Banks that they were ready to putgood amount of money to this Fund and some of them even promised to do so in future.The Committee was in fact happily surprised to know this and felt encouraged to take upthis issue with the concerned Secretaries to the Ministries/Departments at Delhi to impressupon them to find out if some kind of guidelines/norms, formal or informal could laid downand an inter-ministerial body could be created for promoting, coordinating and monitoringthis Fund. The Committee feels a good amount of funds can be allocated that way to bebetter used for the sports development.

16. Against this backdrop, the Committee decided to further deliberate on the issue.Accordingly, the Committee heard the Secretary, Department of Sports along with Director General,Sports Authority of India (SAI), Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Secretary Departmentof Public Enterprises, Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training and the AdditionalSecretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs on the issue of contributions to the National SportsDevelopment Fund in its meeting held on the 17th July, 2015.

17. The Secretary, Department of Sports informed the Committee that sports primarily is aState subject. However, the Department of Sports along with the Sports Authority of India andNational Sports Federations played a very important role for sports and sportspersons at nationaland international level. Training, coaching and participation at international level by sportspersonswere the main activities requiring greater financial resources. For this purpose beside the centralbudgetary support, the Department had created the National Sports Development Fund to channelizethe corporate sector contribution for promotion of sports. He further submitted that, so far, onlylimited resources had been tapped under the National Sports Development Fund and the Departmentwould strive to engaged Public Sector Banks/Public Sector Undertakings to contribute more to theNSDF.

18. The Secretary, Department of Financial Services informed the Committee that there wereonly 26 public sector banks, 4-5 Insurance Companies and 4-5 other financial institutions under theDepartment. Since the Banks were not companies, the provisions of the Companies Act were notapplicable to them and there was no responsibility on the Public Sector Banks to spend minimumtwo per cent on CSR activities. In spite of this, the banks had been doing good work under CSR

8

activities. He mentioned that some of the financial institutions, however, were adopting particularsport and contributing to NSDF. He suggested that provision of the Companies Act regardingspending of two per cent of the profit under CSR should be made applicable to the privatecompanies also. On the point of contribution by the Public Sector Banks to NSDF, he submittedthat Banks could only be requested to contribute.

19. The Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises stated that schedule VII of the CompaniesAct mentioned only five funds, namely, Fund for Swachh Bharat Kosh, Fund for Clean Ganga,Fund for Prime Minister’s National Relief and Fund for Technological Incubation in AcademicInstitutions. He suggested that the National Sports Development Fund could be made part of thatschedule so that Companies could contribute to NSDF also. From the above discussion, theCommittee feels that there is an urgent need to focus on the following aspects of NSDF.

Publicity for National Sports Development Fund

20. From the Committee’s extensive deliberations with the stakeholders, it clearlyemerged that many public sector organizations and institutions were not aware of theexistence of the NSDF, its mandate and purpose. Most of the organizations mixed it withthe Corporate Social Responsibility. The Committee observes that the Department of Sportsshould take steps to widely publicize the NSDF, its mandate, function and achievements toattract contribution from all the Public and Private Sector Institutions. The Departmentshould publish a booklet on NSDF, highlighting its mandate, purpose, mode of contributionsto the fund by the stakeholders, and its achievements in promoting sports.

21. The Committee also recommends that once a sportsperson is selected for financialsupport under NSDF or by the PSB/PSU/organizations, that financial support should continuetill the time the sportsperson attains a certain level. There should be no break in thefinancial support to a sportsperson as the same could lead him/her to-drop out of the sports.Thus, financial support should be on continuous basis.

Inclusion of NSDF in Schedule VII of the Companies Act

22. The Committee notes that another suggestion put forth by the stakeholders was thatNSDF should be included in Schedule VII of the Companies Act. The Committeerecommends that the Companies Act should be amended accordingly, once it is included inSchedule VII, not only the government sector companies/PSUs but also private companieswill start making contributions to this Fund. This will certainly ensure continuous andconsistent fund flow to NSDF.

23. The Committee further feels that the Public Sector Banks while contributing theirfunds for the promotion of sports may bifurcate their contribution in two segments. Theycan contribute to the National Sports Development Fund and at the same time can approachschools/colleges in rural areas and, if possible, adopt one of the sports by investing ininfrastructure and other sports facility in the schools/colleges in the rural areas.

24. The Committee, therefore, recommends that this contribution to NSDF for promotionof any recognized sports, sports academy/a group of elite athletes may be allowed andspecifically mentioned as permissible activity for CSR contribution to ‘Funds’ specified inSchedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013. In view of poor upkeep maintenance of our SAICentres and need for modern equipments/facilities in them, the contribution to SAI forconstruction repair, modernization of sports infrastructure/operation such as talent searchand development; national/regional competitions maintenance with respect to its regionalcentres, STCs, SAG Centres, NSAs may be specifically mentioned in permissible CSR

9

expenditure under CSR Rules by issuing a circular from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.The Department of Sports may follow this up with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.Further, the Committee feels that mandatory CSR provision need to be made applicablewith respect to Insurance and Banking Sector as well as Companies Act does not coverthem.

25. The Committee also recommends that a certain percentage of Education Cess may beearmarked for sports promotion as it is our integral part of education as per the EducationPolicy. This could be around 0.25 percent for sports leaving 2.75 percent for education. TheMinistry of Youth Affairs and Sports may follow it up with the Ministry of HRD andMinistry of Finance for this purpose.

Wider Representation in Council And Executive Committee of the National SportsDevelopment Fund

26. For the management and administration of NSDF, a council is constituted by theCentral Government. This council has representation from the Ministry of Youth Affairs andSports, SAI and eminent sportspersons representing corporate sector, private foundationsand non-profit voluntary organizations. The Committee feels that if the Department ofSports expects adequate funding from the Public Sector Banks and Public SectorUndertakings, it should give adequate representation to the other concerned Ministries andorganizations on the council. The Committee, accordingly, recommends that 4-5 PSUs/Banks/Private bodies/Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Department of Financial Services andDepartment of Public Enterprises should be given representation in the council. Similarly,day to day working of the Fund is managed by an Executive Committee which haverepresentation from the Ministries of Youth Affairs and Sports and Human ResourceDevelopment only. The Committee feels that the Executive Committee should also havewide representations for managing the day to day working of the Fund. Accordingly 4-5PSUs/Banks/Private bodies/Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Department of Financial Servicesand Department of Public Enterprises should be given representation in the ExecutiveCommittee also.

27. The Committee also takes this opportunity to point out that the scheme of NSDF wasframed in the year 1998. At that time, Youth Affairs and Sports was one of the Departmentunder the Ministry of Human Resource Development. This explains the presence of therepresentatives of the Ministry of Human Resource Development in the composition of thecouncil and the Executive Committee. Now that the Department of Youth Affairs and Sportshas become a full fledged Ministry, the presence of the representatives of the Ministry ofHuman Resource Development seems to be inconsistent in the scheme. The Committee,accordingly, recommends the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to relook into theprovision and amend it accordingly.

II

RECRUITMENT AND PROMOTION OF SPORTSPERSONS

28. The Recruitment and Promotion of Sportspersons is also one of the important areas meritingserious consideration. Accordingly, the Committee took up this issue also during its study visit toKolkata, Mumbai and Bengaluru while interacting with PSBs and PSUs.

29. The representative of CIL submitted that direct recruitment of Sportsperson having Nationaland/or International repute was being done. Such recruitment was done on the recommendations

10

of Apex Body after observing different procedural formalities as per norms of the Company atdifferent levels based on the performance of the sports persons. The Number of sportspersons tobe recruited in different grades was decided on the basis of the recommendations of the Apex Bodyof Coal India Sports Promotion Association (CISPA).

30. The representative of CIL further added that CISPA had initiated a programme to identifyemployees who have the technical competence to organize Sports/Games and maintain a panel. Tomake up the shortage of Sports Officials, courses were conducted by drawing interested employeesfrom subsidiaries in association with the affiliated bodies who could ultimately produce technicallyaccepted sports officials. CIL facilitates/assisted in conducting the official examination of State/National Federations. The Technical officials imparted services, as and when required by thecompanies.

31. The representatives of United Bank of India submitted that the Bank had a Sports ControlBoard which has been set up for promotion of sports in the bank. Although the Bank had notframed any definite Sports policy for promotion of sports in the country but the Bank had onseveral occasions recruited outstanding sportsmen belonging to various disciplines and had built upan excellent team of outstanding sports personalities in the field of football, cricket and table tennis.Many of the players recruited by the Bank brought honors in various sporting events across thecountry. They had been permitted to take part in various national as well as state level tournamentsorganized by various State Associations affiliated to AIFF, BCCI and TTFI. The tournamentsarranged with active participation of star sportspersons of the Bank had contributed a lot inpromotion of national level as well as state level sports. The Bank always followed the instruction;guideline from the Ministry in any HR related matter. However, the Bank had not received anyspecific instructions/guidelines from the Ministry regarding recruitment of sportspersons of late.The sportspersons recruited in various disciplines were assigned official duties as also permitted totake part in any sports meet, both at State and at National level enjoying time off and special leaveapproved by the Management. Bank initiated the process of recruitment of sportsperson in the year2012 but due to financial constraints in the subsequent year, the recruitment process could not becompleted.

32. The representative of UCO Bank submitted that Bank had been putting efforts in promotionof sports and had been recruiting sports persons. Promotion of sports was being undertaken underCorporate Social Responsibility Programme. Bank had promoted sports in schools, colleges andsports clubs by way of adoption of schools and donation/sponsorships of various sports.

33. The representative of the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) submitted that the followinginitiatives were being made to encourage rural youth to embrace sports activities as part of theirlife since a long time past:

(i) Developing sports infrastructure in villages like creating new play ground andrenovation of existing ground through land levelling, grass pitching, erecting Goal postetc.

(ii) Interschool athletic meet were organised by DVC and school students were sponsoredto take part in district level meet.

In addition to above, enhancement of Budget i.e. upto 10 percent of socio economic partof CSR Budget and opening of Sports Academy at Maithon, DVC were being contemplated.

34. The IDBI Bank representative submitted that it had been recruiting sports persons since1977-78 from the field of Cricket, Kabbadi, football, Chess and Table Tennis. The last recruitmentfor sportspersons was made in 1996 for recruiting outstanding sports persons of Cricket, TableTennis and Chess.

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35. In terms of Government of India guidelines circulated vide letter dated November 16, 1992,the recruitment of sports persons was made through advertisement at sub staff, clerical and officerlevel. The bank followed the GoI guidelines in respect of age, education qualification and level ofparticipation (district, state or national level) for recruitment of sports persons in various cadres.

36. The gist of extant guidelines regarding recruitment and level of participation, inter-alia,indicate sports person between the age of 18 to 26, who had played at district level were eligiblefor sub staff category, state level sports persons are eligible for clerical cadre and national levelplayers were eligible for appointment in officer cadre. The guidelines also listed out the names ofthe sports which could be considered for carrying out the recruitment.

37. The IDBI Bank representative submitted that it had been recruiting outstandingsportspersons since 1977-78 in Officers / Class-III / Class-IV cadres from various sports viz.Cricket, Football, Table Tennis, Kabbadi & Chess. IDBI Bank actively promoted and encouragedemployees to participate in sports activities. The IDBI Sports Club, Corporate Centre Mumbai andthe Zonal Sports Committees were entrusted with the responsibility of conducting sports activitiesat the respective locations for employees every year. He further added that the Bank had beenallocating funds towards promotion of sports among its employees within the ambit of StaffWelfare Activities. The Bank had been conducting sporting activities such as cricket, football,badminton & athletic tournaments.

38. The IDBI Bank had since 1977-78 recruited 29 sports person in various cadres based onthe level of participation and the eligibility qualification. The recruitment for sports persons was lastmade in 1996 for recruiting outstanding players in Cricket, Table Tennis and Chess. The Bank hadthen selected a total of 9 players in Cricket, Table Tennis and Chess. The appointment of state levelplayers was made at clerical / sub ordinate cadre and national level players were appointed asofficers.

39. The representative of SBI submitted that State Bank of India had recognized eleven games,viz. Athletics, Basketball, Chess, Cricket, Football, Hockey, Kabaddi, Shuttle Badminton, TableTennis, Tennis, Volleyball for championing its cause and necessary funds were allocated byCorporate Centre from the staff welfare fund to the Circles on yearly basis for furtherance of thesporting activities among the employees. The Bank had been organizing Inter Circle Tournamentsin the recognized games of the Bank to generate a level of competition among the employees ofthe Circles by striving for excellence in their performances, apart from fostering a spirit ofparticipation, friendship and fraternity.

40. The Sports Control Board (SCB) was the apex sports body / authority of the SBI and itcame into existence in the year 1963 with the objective to encourage, promote, develop, maintainand regulate sports and games in SBI. The SCB had been instrumental in providing the impetus tothe spread of culture of sports primarily through recruitment of successful sports personalities invarious disciplines and nurturing the upcoming talents. The inter-circle tournaments in variousdisciplines of outdoor and indoor games had thrown out a spirit of excellence and generated asense of camaraderie among the State Bankers from across the country. The Board in its meetingdecided the particular type of Inter Circle sports and games to be organized, the time schedule tobe followed, the venue for the meets and allocates such amounts as may be needed for thepurpose. Apart from the teams from the 14 Circles, the team(s) of Associate Banks were alsoallowed to participate in the sports events of SBI.

41. The representative of the SBI informed about the Benefits! Facilities available toSportspersons besides conduct of Inter Circle tournaments, the Bank provided the facility of specialleave to sportsperson employees for participating in the tournaments in the recognized games heldat National/International/State, including Junior National levels and Veteran Sportsperson

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tournaments to the extent of 30 days at any one instance and maximum 180 days in a calendaryear with additional leave for foreign tours and coaching camps. Requests for special leave toattend selection trials/selection camps/coaching camps/physical training camps etc. held forselection of State/National teams were also considered. Leave of the above nature beyond 30 daysin one instance was also sanctioned in deserving cases. Employees who officiate as Coaches,Managers, Selectors, Referees, Judges, and Umpires etc. in the Junior National/National/International level tournaments were also entitled to special leave. Active sportspersons were alsogiven a reasonable time off for practice during the season the game was played and the extentof time off is determined according to the nature of the game.

42. On the recruitment of sportsperson the representative of SBI submitted that encouragementto sports by the Bank started on a significant scale in the early 1960’s. Sportsmen of repute ingames like cricket. Football, hockey, table tennis, basketball, volleyball, athletics and few othergames were appointed on ad hoc basis and were given various other facilities in pursuit ofexcellence in their respective games. The players with requisite qualification and having representedthe country at international levels were recruited as Probationary Officers. Excellence in theperformance used to be recognised and rewarded through promotion.

43. The present policy regarding recruitment of sportsperson, which was modified as per theGovt. of Guidelines issued on 16.11.92, was approved by the Sports Control Board of the Bankbased on its objective to encourage, promote, develop, maintain and regulate sports and gamesin SBI. As per the extant guidelines issued by the Sports Control Board, sportspersons proficientin the 6 games, viz. Cricket, Football, Hockey, Basketball, Volleyball and Kabaddi were consideredfor recruitment. Exceptions may be made for outstanding sportspersons in other disciplines onmerits.

44. Out of the total strength of 795 sportspersons in the Bank at present, 420 sportspersonswere recruited under sports quota. The SBI had been allocating funds to the Circles to the tuneof `3.00 crore on an yearly basis out of the total welfare fund for holding Inter-Circle Tournamentsin the game of Cricket, Football, Hockey, Basketball, Volleyball, Table Tennis apart from some otherfund to meet the Circle’s requirements for promotion / conduct of various other sporting activitiesat the local level. On the sportsperson recruited in SBI through sports quota, the SBI Chairmanadded that out of the present strength of 795 sportspersons in the Bank, 420 were recruited undersports quota. The category-wise details of jobs were as under:

Officers – 214

Clerical - 199

Sub-staff -7

Total - 420

The selection criteria for sportspersons was as under:

Eligibility Norms:

1. Age - for all category staff - Between 18 & 26 years. Relaxation in age will bepermitted in the case of reserved categories as per guidelines issued by theGovernment from time to time.

2. Educational Qualifications:

Officers: Graduation in any discipline.

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Clerical: SSC /SSLC / Matriculation or equivalent

Sub-staff: Vth Standard pass with ability to read and write

3. Sports Qualifications:

Officers: Should have represented the country or won an Arjun Award or representedthe State with distinction for at least five years in Continuation.

Clerical: Should have represented the State in National event, or the District in Statelevel event or the University in an Inter-University event with distinction or if he wasa member of the Combined Universities Team with distinction.

Sub-staff: Should have represented the District in a State level event or should haveparticipated in a All India School event with distinction.

45. State Bank of India submitted that due publicity to the Bank’s requirements was giventhrough an advertisement. On receipt the applications were scrutinized by the competent authority.Candidates found to possess the qualifications as stated above were called for an interview andselections made strictly on merit. Since recruitment was on the basis of sports qualifications,maximum weightage will be given to this factor as well as to the age of candidates. The bankshould not consider for recruitment those sportspersons who were already working in some otherbank, unless the application was routed through the employer bank. Usual character verification andmedical tests was done in respect of candidates recruited. Recruitment would be done in the samemanner as was done for regular candidates selected for appointment.

The other conditions were:-

“a) All appointments under this scheme shall be entirely at the discretion of the Bank andshall be made at the starting stage of the pay scales admissible to the posts.

b) Appointment in the Officers’ cadre will be made at the minimum of the pay scale forofficers in JMGS-I and will be governed by the rules / policies in force from time totime.

c) All appointments will be on probation for the same period as for general candidates.

d) At the time of appointment, the candidate must be an active sportsperson and shouldbe fit enough to take part in future tournaments.

e) Sports certificates / achievements may be verified from the issuing authoritiesindependently. In case of any doubt, the candidate may be asked to give ademonstration in the game in which he / she claims to be meritorious.

f) Only Indian citizens are eligible for appointment under this scheme.

g) Certificates and credentials will have to be submitted before appointment.

h) Appointment of sportspersons will normally be done at the headquarters of the LHOto enable them to have practice sessions etc. and requests for transfer elsewhere shallnot be entertained as long as they are active players. Sportspersons from a particulardiscipline may be posted at other centres if practice / training facilities are availableat such centres and the number of players at the centre justifies the measure.”

46. The representative of SBI further added that there was no examination, provided thatsportspersons fulfilled the eligibility criteria in respect of educational standards, age etc. and their

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applications were approved by the President, Circle Welfare Committee after scrutiny by the CircleWelfare Committee, provided that the sportsperson being considered for appointment had appliedfor the vacancy sanctioned by Corporate Centre keeping in view the ceiling fixed by the GOI forsuch appointments in a year. The candidates administratively cleared by the above authorities wereinterviewed by the CGM, one GM of the concerned LHO and two eminent sportspersons nominatedby the Sports Control Board, Corporate Centre. The candidates so selected were offeredappointment in the Bank subject to their completing the other formalities such as satisfactoryreports from the references, medical examination and verification of antecedents, etc. CGM of theCircle appointed in either subordinate or clerical cadre. The Dy. Managing Director & CDO wasthe competent authority for such appointments in the Officers’ cadre. However, such appointmentin the officers’ cadre should be finally approved by the Executive Committee of the Central Boardof the Bank.

47. The BOI representative submitted it had taken the following steps to promote the Nationalsports and recruitment of sportspersons in our Bank and was granting Duty Leave to thesportspersons for participating in various sports events at State, National and International level.Reimbursement of travelling expenses and payment of Diet allowances were also made to them.Sportspersons were provided with kits wherever necessary for the related sports. Sportspersonswere being extended relaxed working hours and Duty Leave for pre-tournament practice. Bank hadestablished Zonal Sports Committees at each Zone which took care of sports activity in the Zones.In addition to that, Bank had established Sports Control Board at apex level. Inter Zone tournamentsfor various sports were conducted every year.

48. The Bank of India had been recruiting sportspersons in the past who had represented inState/ National or International level tournaments in various sports activities viz. Cricket, FootballKabbadi, Carrom, Kho-Kho, Athletics, Badminton etc. Bank was also engaging sportspersons in theage group of 18 to 21 years on monthly scholarship basis. Presently, BOI had engaged 20sportspersons on scholarship basis. They were being paid monthly stipend of `6,000/- p.m. andthey were also insured for `2.00 lakhs against accidental injury. Out of turn increments weregranted to around 115 sportspersons for participation in National events and out of turn promotionwas given to the sportspersons for representing India in International Events.

49. Bank of India representative further added that it recruited outstanding sportspersons basedon BSB norms and MOF guidelines. Provision for 1 out-of-turn promotion to an officer employeein entire service period for winning a medal in International events, or a National Award in anysports by the Government of India. On promotion, active Officer sportspersons were retained inparent state. Award Staff Employees appointed as sportspersons had preference over the Transferdiary.

50. Bank of India had active Sports Employees who were entitled for Special Leave ofmaximum 30 days in a year. Providing 2 hours of permission everyday to all active sportspersonsto attend to regular practice session and reimbursed, TA/DA expenses for all participatingemployees as per rates applicable to Officers in JMGS-I. The Bank also provided Sports Kitsrequired by teams on yearly basis.

51. Bank of India had also taken 86 players during past 2 years as Stipendiary players andselection was based on criteria such as Age, Educational and Sports Qualifications anddiscipline as specified by Banks’ Sports Control Board (BSB).Bank’s Board had sanctioned 29vacancies to be filled as in the Clerical cadre during FY 2015-16 and the process for whichwas on. The Bank of India had been recruiting sportspersons in the past who hadrepresented in State/ National or International level tournaments in various sports activitiesviz. Cricket, Football, Kabbadi, Carrom, Kho-Kho, Athletics, Badminton etc. Bank was alsoengaging sportspersons in the age group of 18 to 21 years on monthly scholarship basis.

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Presently, BOI had engaged 20 sportspersons on scholarship basis. They were being paidmonthly stipend of `6,000/- p.m. and they are also been insured for `2.00 lakhs againstaccidental injury. Out of turn increments were granted to around 115 sportspersons forparticipation in National events and out of turn promotion was given to the sportspersons forrepresenting India in International Events.

52. Union Bank of India had recruited about 200 sportspersons through sports quota inclerical and a few in sub-staff cadre. Bank had also taken 44 players during 2014-15 and 42during 2013-14 as stipendiary players. The selection was based on the criteria such as Age,Educational and Sports Qualifications and discipline. Recently, the Bank’s Board had sanctioned29 vacancies to be filled up in the clerical cadre during FY 2015-16, the process for which wason. Bank had written to the IBPS for conducting Common Recruitment Process forsportspersons. The Bank had also taken up the matter with the IBA for formulating a commonSports Recruitment Policy for PSBs.

53. Thereafter, the Committee also interacted with the representative of PSUs like Indian Oil,BPCL, HPCL and Air India on the promotion of sports and recruitment of sportspersons in PSUs.

54. The representative of Indian Oil Corporation submitted that Indian Oil had identified tengames i.e. Cricket, Hockey, Badminton, Tennis, Table Tennis, Golf, Billiards / Snooker, Athletics,Chess and Carrom as thrust games. Over the years, 105 sportspersons in Men / Women categoryhad been recruited in the identified thrust games. Out of 105 sportspersons, as on date 55 wereactive sportsperson and were regularly participating at National/International level. After decline oftheir performance in sports at competitive level, 44 players were pursuing long term career inIndian Oil. In addition 12 players were engaged on Tenure Basis.

55. The representative of HPCL submitted that HPCL had a policy of direct recruitment ofsportspersons in the past. Now, the bank had a policy to engage sportspersons on scholarship/contract basis. As a part of women empowerment and encouragement of sports among women,the bank had also got management approval to engage women players in Tennis/ Athletics/Badminton disciplines. Sportspersons directly recruited by HPCL had been working in variousdepartments. Few of the sportspersons had been promoted to Middle Management (Managerial)position as well.

56. The representative of BPCL submitted that BPCL had been recruiting sports persons as perapproved Sports Recruitment Policy. Out of the total number of 84 recruited sportspersons inBPCL, 58 had represented the country in various international events such as the WorldChampionships, Olympics, Asian and Commonwealth Games. At present, the bank had thefollowing sportspersons on its rolls in either the Management or Non-Management cadres:

Sl Discipline No. of Recruited CategoryNo. Players

1 2 3 4

1. Badminton 8 All Management

2. Chess 7 All Management

3. Cricket 18 16 Management & 2

Non-Management

4. Table Tennis 4 All Management

5. Hockey 17 15 Management & 2

Non-Management

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1 2 3 4

6. Billiards & Snooker 3 All Management

7. Kabaddi 14 6 Management & 8

Non-Management

8. Volleyball 11 6 Management & 8

Non-Management

9. Archery 1 Management

10. Arm Wrestling 1 Management

(Physical Handicap category)

Against existing approved 88 positions, BPCL had 84 sportspersons on its rolls and planned to fillthe remaining vacancies during the next quarter.

57. The representative of Life Insurance Corporation of India submitted that LIC had initiatedspecial recruitment of Sportspersons under Sports Quota in the year 1981. Till date, 415sportspersons had been recruited under Sports quota, in the six Sports disciplines as per datatabulated below:-

SI. No. Discipline Number of Sportspersons Recruits

1. Athletics 228

2. Badminton 552

3. Carrom 16

4. Chess 13

5. Table Tennis 42

6. Volleyball 64

TOTAL 415

DoPT Circulars on Recruitment and Promotion Sportspersons

58. The Secretary, Department of Sports submitted that the DoPT, Government of India hada policy where up to 5 percent of the positions can be taken out of the purview of normalselection boards and be filled up by sportspersons. That too in Group C and D only. TheCommittee found that the problem with this is that it is only perceptive in nature and notmandatory. Besides, it does not automatically apply to CPSUs and is left to their discretion.Further, there is no mechanism to monitor the implementation of the guidelines which is whythere is no unpublished data to maintain about this either in CPSUs or in GovernmentMinistries/Departments. As result, we do not know whether sportspersons are being recruitedregularly or not. He submitted that this policy was implemented varyingly across differentdepartments. Some departments/organizations like Railway, ONGC and Oil companies wereproactively recruiting sportspersons. But many other PSUs/PSBs had a long way to go. He pointedout that a general policy could be adopted by PSUs and PSEs to give due consideration foremployment to sportsperson. The Secretary, Department of Financial Services (DFS) informedthat various banks like SBI had recruited 420 sportspersons, Vijaya Bank (145), Syndicate Bank(152), Central Bank of India (209), Bank of India (111) and other banks 26 each. The

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Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) submitted that the Department was thenodal department for PSUs and followed the policies laid down by the DoPT in terms ofrecruitment and service matters. He informed that as far as recruitment was concerned therewas a policy since 1984 for recruiting sportspersons but the Department of Public Enterpriseshad done an exercise in 1997 where guidelines were made. Central Public Sector Enterprises(CPSE) had reached a certain level of maturity and decided to withdraw 696 guidelines one ofwhich was the sports guideline for recruitment of sportspersons. He further added thatrecently, DoPT had issued new guidelines on recruitment of sportsperson and they were beingcirculated to CPSEs again. The Committee was given to understand that based on performanceof a sportsperson in national and international sports event, three out of turn promotions areto be given to the sportspersons.

59. The Committee feels that both recruitments and promotions of sportspersons werenot being given due importance. Current guidelines prescribe that Boards of Banks/PSUsand other organizations set aside up to 5 per cent of posts to be filled by sportspersons. Inthe absence of mandatory minimum cap, the banks/PSUs and other organizations have beenrecruiting sportspersons in varying percentage. This is creating confusion. The Committee,accordingly, recommends that DoPT should make at compulsory for all the Ministries/Departments to recruit 5 per cent sportspersons. The Committee would further appreciateif DoPT gives clear instructions to all the Ministries/Departments/organizations toeffectively implement its promotion policy for the sportspersons. The Committee furtherobserves as follows:-

(i) Job reservation for Sportspersons may be made mandatory in CentralGovernment, its subordinate officers and undertaking including banks andinsurance companies;

(ii) 2 per cent vertical and 3 per cent horizontal reservation may be mademandatory in case of shortfall in vertical reservation due to 50 per cent limitgetting breached, it should automatically get transfer to horizontal reservation;

(iii) In pay band II and III reservation for sportsperson may also be allowed forOlympic medalist and equivalent; and

(iv) SAI can function as nodal agency and work as employment exchange forrecruitment of sportspersons.

60. It has been learnt from the representation of Anju Bobby George that DoPT circulardated 26th July, 2012 was being restricted to the appointees from 2012 onwards when theguidelines were re-issued and provision of three out of turn of promotions was made. TheCommittee recommends that this circular should be construed as a guideline by all thedepartments and they should have liberal interpretation and should not restrict it andimplement it from prospective date. This is clarificatory guideline and must be applicable incase of all existing players. Hence, the Committee directs the Department of Customs andother Departments that if the existing players have not been given out of turn promotionsin their career, they must be considered for three out of turn promotions in phased mannermaking the post personal in case the player/employee has won medals in the /internationalsporting events during the course of employment even before 2011. Such players should notbe counted as normal department employees and parity should not be drawn with regularemployees. These players are ambassadors and pride of concerned organization who areconsidered as role model. The Committee also appreciated Department of Customs forrecruiting and retaining such world class players. The Department should handle such

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players with care, dignity and respect and encourage them to provide guidance, coaching andlecture to youngsters in schools and colleges and in the sporting complexes. They shouldalso be encouraged to establish own academies/coaching centres or associate themselves withSAI or Ministry of Sports for sporting activities like coordination and motivation etc. TheDepartment may also come forward in establishing academies or adopting some coachingcentres where their talent could be utilized.

61. It is disheartening to note that Department of Custom has stopped paying DA to its playeremployee since 1999 for attending coaching camps (national or international). The Committee feelssuch practices does not go with the image of Department and recommends that Department shouldpay due DA to its players for attending such camps.

62. The Committee noted that most of the sportspersons were being recruited in pay bandsI and II jobs only. The Committee feels that this practice should be rectified. A player gives,the most productive years of his life to sports. Therefore while recruiting thesesportspersons they should be treated at par with pay band III officers based on their sportsachievements at National and International level. The Committee would appreciate if thisaspect is also considered by the DoPT in right earnest.

63. The Additional Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs submitted before the Committee thatschedule VII of the Companies Act mentioned activities to be undertaken by the Corporations underthe Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). One of the activity mentioned in schedule VII was“training to promote rural sports, nationally recognized sports, Paralympics sports and OlympicSports.” If contribution to NSDF by Corporations was to be included under CSR, then a liberalinterpretation of schedule VII was to be taken. He further mentioned that activities under CSR weredecided by the Board of the Company and a monitoring mechanism was being evolved to assessCSR activities.

III

OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES

64. The Committee also visited SAI Regional Centre at Bengaluru to see the facilities andinfrastructure and had interaction with the sports officials and eminent sportspersons Anju BobbyGeorge and Ashwini Nachappa. In its interaction with the sportspersons and coaches, theCommittee was informed that the coaches, who gave training, did not get any leave for coachingand were also engaged in day to day administrative work. The sportspersons also highlighted thatthey were also denied promotion in the organization. In this case, Anju Bobby George gave arepresentation to the Committee. The Committee expressed its anguish and directed the Ministry totake up the matter with Department of Custom in view of the circular issued in 2012. Anju BobbyGeorge gave following valid suggestion which the Committee would like the Department toconsider:-

— “Sports persons/coaches of various Government departments and public sectorcompanies has to be relieved from their regular duty for their specialized sportstraining. A combination of regular department duty and sports training program will notgive desired results in sports. This is applicable for all the athletes/coaches who areappointed under sports quota as well as other athletes who’re appointed on regularbasis and excelled in sports.

— Many sports persons in various departments are struggling with sports training andregular duty. Most of them were having 12-14 hours work load and high stress andthe purpose of sports quota appointments is diluted. After the retirement from active

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sports, the elite sportspersons service must be utilized for various sports developmentactivities in the country on a priority basis. The DA for athletes participating in variousInternational competitions/training, national competitions and national coaching campsare not uniform and majority of the departments has stopped paying DA/TA to athletes.Customs and Central Excise department were paying DA to their athletes for attendingnational coaching camps/competitions (Domestic and international) up to the year 1999and then had stopped permanently.

— Presently SAI is offering ‘30000 per month for an Indian national coach, for his/herservice in the national coaching camps. There are Indian coaches who’ve excelled andproduced results at World level, fighting against all odds and there is no gradingsystem available/in place, and all the national coaches are treated uniformly, irrespectiveof their career record, knowledge, integrity or experience.

— The foreign coaches and technical staff are offered contract amount differently andusually it varied from 5000 US$ to 1500US$ per month. The Committee finds thatthere is a clear discrimination towards Indian coaches who have made World levelachievements for our country. The Indian coaches with better profile, records andcommitment and integrity are side lined due to vested interests or lack of interest.Indian coaches who have made most outstanding results at World level should betreated at par with foreign coaches in remuneration and other support.

— Indian coaches like Pullela Gopi Chand, Robert Bobby George, U. Vimal Kumar, etchave produced World class athletes and results. Robert Bobby George has producedthe top most outstanding results of India in track and field with country’s lone WorldChampionships medal and World Athletics Final Gold medal. In 2009, as a build up toDelhi Commonwealth Games, he was offered thirty thousand rupees per month ascontract amount but at the same time foreign coaches in athletics with inferior trackrecord and results were paid 3 lacs to 6 lacs per month as contract amount.

— This approach would definitely destroy the top most coaches of India. The Foreigncoaches were hired for more than 25 years in SAI with very high contract amountand we cannot depend on them forever and the country has to build its own coachingsystem and develop its own coaches.

— That sports quota appointments has reduced substantially in the recent years in manyGovernment organizations and public sector companies. The Committee further pointsout that there are no guidelines to follow. Most of the department heads/sports officersmake appointments of their personal choice or personal motive. In most of the casesthis gives space for partiality and corruption. Presently, the sports ministry hasrestricted sports persons appointments in SAI alone. We need more representation ofsports icons in the administrative cadre of Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports. Mostof the Central Government departments doesn’t follow the order and the guidelines ofDoPT on out of turn promotion of sports persons (dated on 26th July, 2012).

— There should be more career opportunities for women athletes in India. Sports are apowerful medium which has wider acceptance and visibility across the society. Weshould make a special scheme “women empowerment through sports” to break thetaboos which exists in many communities and regions of the country.

— The School Games Federation is working independently and they don’t make acompetition calendar jointly with National Federations. Moreover, different boards havedifferent competitions and Junior Athletes suffer a lot with the clash of dates and theego between School Games Federation and NSFs. There is need a single School

20

Games Federation which includes all state boards CBSE, ICSE and other boards. Thisshould also be applicable to AIU (All India University) competitions as well. Thepresent incentive structure of Union Sports Ministry has to be revised. Tough andBigger competitions has to be given proper weight age. Many top competitions areeither not identified or listed. World Marathon, World race walking, Indoor athleticchampionship (both world and continental) world athletics final etc. are not listed”.

65. The Committee interacted with the officials of the CPWD in the SAI centre at Bengaluru.The Committee found that CPWD did not maintain the infrastructure facilities like Table TennisStadium, Gymnasium, Badminton and Basketball Courts at the SAI Centre. The Committee foundthat these facilities were in pathetic condition. The Committee visited the running track at thecentre and found that sub-standard material was used in the laying of the running track. TheCommittee also found that the football ground did not have proper turf for playing. The Committeewas anguished to see that many of the shooting ranges were not properly maintained.

66. The Committee recommends that SAI and the Department of Sports should givefunds for proper maintenance of the sports facilities at SAI centres in India. TheDepartment of Sports should also ask the PSUs, PSBs and other organizations to adopt oneof the sports disciplines and improve the facilities at the SAI centre.

67. The representative of BEL submitted that BEL had been encouraging Sportsperson recruitedin the company and the following benefits under the scheme are admissible for employees who hadbeen conferred with the following awards:

a) Arjuna Award

b) Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award

c) Medals in International sports events while representing the country.

Recipient of Arjuna Award/Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award were eligible for promotion to thenext higher grade irrespective of the qualifying service required. The promotion shall be grantedseparately for each award. The promotion should be without reference to the vacancies, test,interview etc. as a onetime measure. In addition to the above, the awardee should be eligible forone additional increment in the promoted grade. An employee who wins a medal in the InternationalSports and games events while representing the country would be eligible for one additionalincrement. Each of the Medals received would be considered as a separate medal for the purposeof extending this benefit under the scheme in the International Sports or Games meet. Further, anemployee was eligible for maximum of five increments under this scheme during his/her entireservice.

Representation of Sportspersons in SAI

68. The Committee in its 34th Report on the India’s Performance in International Sports in 1995had made the following observations on the restructuring of Sports Authority of India (SAI):-

‘one of the general complaints received by the Committee was that the sportsadministrators, particularly most of the officials of the Sports Authority of India (SAI)had no sorts background. It was cited as one of the reasons for lack of direction in thesports arena.’

‘the Committee observed that there was a lot of dissatisfaction about the structure andfunctioning of the Sports Authority of India (SAI). It was complained that SAI hadbecome a huge and unwieldy organization, with completely bureaucratic characteristics.There are a number of Directors, Deputy Directors and other paraphernalia which was

21

not originally contemplated. There are a number of square pegs in the round holes. Itis a sort of inverted pyramid. All the powers are centralized at the headquarters. TheRegional Centres some of which like the Bangalore one-doing excellent work aredeprived of financial powers due to lack of autonomy. Even for small matters, theyhave to get clearance from the headquarters of SAI at Delhi, including sanctioning ofsmall expenditure. The Committee found that such a bureaucratic functioning of theSAI is proving to be a major obstacle in the free and smooth functioning of theRegional Centres. The Committee feels that the Regional Centres should be delegatedadequate financial and administrative powers so as to cater to their day-to-dayrequirements for the efficient and smooth functioning of these Centres. Theatmosphere in SAI needs to be made a sports-friendly rather than the existingmonolithic bureaucratic organization. The Committee feels that unless these Centresare strengthened, we cannot expect better results from them. Work and accounts of theCentres should be periodically audited and monitored by the competent authority. TheSAI in Delhi could be just a coordinating authority and should concentrate on policy,planning and monitoring. There should be a Sub-Regional Centre of SAI in each State,with a Director in charge of it’.

69. The Committee finds that there has been no change in the situation till now. TheSports Authority of India continues to function in the same bureaucratic manner.Surprisingly, sportspersons were not being represented at any level in the functioning ofSAI even today. Many of the Sports Institutes are headed or managed by persons nothaving any sports background. The Committee feels, the situatiop requires immediatecorrective steps.

70. Involvement of sportspersons in the functioning of SAI could go a long way increating good infrastructure and sports facilities at every level as the sportspersons arefamiliar with the kind of facilities infrastructure coaching, diet, training and support serviceare required for the sportspersons.

71. The Committee further notes that there were nine regional centres of SAIfunctioning at Bengaluru, Kolkata, Gandhinagar, Bhopal, Sonepat, Chandigarh, Lucknow,Imphal and Guwahati. The Committee desires that each one of the Regional Centresshould be headed by a Regional Director with full powers are or two executive Directorsin Delhi could look after the administrative and coordinating works of the organizationas well as matters relating to the teams. A full time Chairman-cum-managing Directorwith good sports background should be appointed as the Director-General of SAI.

ENGAGEMENT OF RETIRED SPORTSPERSONS AS COACHES

72. The Committee was informed that there is lack of good coaches for giving trainingto juniors in the SAI centres. The Committee feels that there have been many outstandingsportspersons who had retired from active sports and can work as coaches. The Committeefeels that such sportspersons with their experience and expertise could nurture and bringup a new generation of sportspersons besides providing much needed financial help toretired sportsperson.

73. While deliberating on the subject it was brought to the notice of the Committee thatBCCI was giving pension to its retired cricketers. The Committee feels that SAI should alsodevise a mechanism to provide pension to the sports persons from NSDF after they retirefrom active sports life. This would serve as a social security for the sports person and theywould be able to level their life independently and with dignity.

22

Sportspersons not to be Engaged in Day to Day Administrative Work

74. The Secretary DoPT had stated that many departments are engaging sportspersons in dayto day administrative work and some time they are engaged in the official work from 10-12 hoursdaily. Such sportspersons are treated as regular employees and Departments assign them routinework. The Secretary had pointed out that it was against the norms for which the sportspersonshas been recruited. He stated that it was understandable that there is shortage of manpower inevery department and regular recruitments have also not been done by certain departments, butengaging sportspersons for such routine work is not the solution.

75. The Committee took serious note of the fact that organisations/departments, whichare recruiting sportsperson, engage them in day to day administrative work of theorganisation. The Committee feels that recruitment of a sportsperson in an organisation isa value addition to that organisation and instead of engaging him/her in AdministrativeWork, he/she should be given opportunity to excel in the sports and also to train andmentor junior sports persons.

Equal Remunerations for Coaches

76. The Committee was also given to understand that the foreign coaches engaged byvarious bodies/organisations were being paid higher remuneration vis-a-vis the Indiancoaches. The Committee feels that this practice is uncalled for if we desire to promotesports in the country. The Committee would appreciate if grading of coaches is done andequal and uniform remuneration is paid to both foreign and Indian coaches.

23

RECOMMENDATION/OBSERVATIONS AT A GLANCE

(I)

PERFORMANCE OF NATIONAL SPORTS DEVELOPMENT FUND

The Committee had also recommended that each major industrial house, both publicand private sector, should be asked to adopt one sports discipline and they should take thetotal responsibility of scouting talent and nurturing the same, including their participationin various national and international events. On reciprocal basis, the concerned industrialhouse should have its nominee in the concerned national federation/association. TheCommittee again reiterates its recommendation and also suggests that major industrialhouse should adopt, at least, one sport discipline and nurture the same if sports culture inthis country is to be evolved. (Para 6)

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and Government of India (GOI) hadestablished the National Sports Development Fund in 1998. However, since its inceptionadequate funds could not be collected which indicates that the Department did not makesincere efforts to approach the Corporate and the Public sector for contribution to theFund. (Para 7)

The Committee finds that the situation has not improved till now. The NSDF corpusis still scarce, not many public and private organizations are coming forward to contributeto the Fund and there is a lot of overlapping in promotion of sports as respectiveorganizations are following their own pattern so far as development of sports is concerned.Further, the Committee notes that even from the scarce resources available with the NSDF,there is laxity on the part of the Department in spending the same which shows lack ofcommitment on the part of the Department to promote sports in true earnest. TheCommittee, therefore, recommends that the Department of Sports and SAI should takesteps to evolve an effective mechanism for regular dialogue and co-ordination with thesports boards of the various organizations and federations so that duplication of efforts andwastage of precious time and scarce fund is avoided. (Para 9)

From the above discussions the Committee can conclude that most of the PublicSector Banks and Public Sector Undertakings were not aware of the existence of theNational Sports Development Fund or were linking it with the Corporate SocialResponsibility (CSR) activities. (Para 14)

The Committee also found that the Banks and CPSUs were spending crores of rupeesevery year independently in the name of sports mainly for entertainment purposes or fortheir commercial publicity in the form of giving sponsorship to tournaments, annual meetssmaller cash awards at local levels, except some of them like ONGC, Indian Oil, Air India,HAL and a few banks. There is no coordination/linkage of any kind amongst them in thisregard. The Committee also found that the direction of and the manner which sportsactivities are being done is not going to develop sports in the country. The Committee isnot for stopping such activities being undertaken by banks/PSUs, it feels that the moniescurrently being spent could be put to much better use if a good part of it goes to NSDF,a centralized and specialized mechanism for the development of sports in the country. Italso came up during the deliberations with these PSUs/Banks that they were ready to put

23

24

good amount of money to this Fund and some of them even promised to do so in future.The Committee was in fact happily surprised to know this and felt encouraged to take upthis issue with the concerned Secretaries to the Ministries/Departments at Delhi to impressupon them to find out if some kind of guidelines/norms, formal or informal could laid downand an inter-ministerial body could be created for promoting, coordinating and monitoringthis Fund. The Committee feels a good amount of funds can be allocated that way to bebetter used for the sports development. (para 15)

Publicity for National Sports Development Fund

From the Committee’s extensive deliberations with the stakeholders, it clearlyemerged that many public sector organizations and institutions were not aware of theexistence of the NSDF, its mandate and purpose. Most of the organizations mixed it withthe Corporate Social Responsibility. The Committee observes that the Department ofSports should take steps to widely publicize the NSDF, its mandate, function andachievements to attract contribution from all the Public and Private Sector Institutions.The Department should publish a booklet on NSDF, highlighting its mandate, purpose,mode of contributions to the fund by the stakeholders, and its achievements in promotingsports. (para 20)

The Committee also recommends that once a sportsperson is selected for financialsupport under NSDF or by the PSB/PSU/organizations, that financial support should continuetill the time the sportsperson attains a certain level. There should be no break in thefinancial support to a sportsperson as the same could lead him/her to drop out of the sports.Thus, financial support should be on continuous “basis. (para 21)

Inclusion of NSDF in Schedule VII of the Companies Act

The Committee notes that another suggestion put forth by the stakeholders was thatNSDF should be included in schedule VII of the Companies Act. The Committeerecommends that the Companies Act should be amended accordingly, once it is included inschedule VII, not only the government sector companies/PSUs but also private companieswill start making contributions to this Fund. This will certainly ensure continuous andconsistent fund flow to NSDF. (Para 22)

The Committee further feels that the Public Sector Banks while contributingtheir funds for the promotion of sports may bifurcate their contribution in twosegments. They can contribute to the National Sports Development Fund and at thesame time can approach schools/colleges in rural areas and, if possible, adopt one ofthe sports by investing in infrastructure and other sports facility in the schools/colleges in the rural areas. (Para 23)

The Committee, therefore, recommends that this contribution to NSDF forpromotion of any recognized sports, sports academy/a group of elite athletes may beallowed and specifically mentioned as permissible activity for CSR contribution to ‘Funds’specified in Schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013. In view of poor upkeepmaintenance of our SAI Centres and need for modern equipments/facilities in them, thecontribution to SAI for construction repair, modernization of sports infrastructure/operation such as talent search and development; national/regional competitionsmaintenance with respect to its regional centres, $TCs, SAG Centres, NSAs may bespecifically mentioned in permissible CSR expenditure under CSR Rules by issuing a

25

circular from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The Department of Sports may follow thisup with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Further, the Committee feels that mandatoryCSR provision need to be made applicable with respect to Insurance and Banking Sector aswell as Companies Act does not cover them. (Para 24)

The Committee also recommends that a certain percentage of Education Cess may beearmarked for sports promotion as it is our integral part of education as per the EducationPolicy. This could be around 0.25 percent for sports leaving 2.75 percent for education. TheMinistry of Youth Affairs and Sports may follow it up with the Ministry of HRD andMinistry of Finance for this purpose. (para 25)

Wider Representation in Council and Executive Committee of the National SportsDevelopment Fund

For the management and administration of NSDF, a council is constituted by theCentral Government. This council has representation from the Ministry of Youth Affairsand Sports, SAI and eminent sportspersons representing corporate sector, privatefoundations and non-profit voluntary organizations. The Committee feels that if theDepartment of Sports expects adequate funding from the Public Sector Banks and PublicSector Undertakings, it should give adequate representation to the other concernedMinistries and organizations on the council. The Committee, accordingly, recommends that4-5 PSUs/Banks/Private bodies/Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Department of FinancialServices and Department of Public Enterprises should be given representation in thecouncil. Similarly, day to day working of the Fund is managed by an Executive Committeewhich have representation from the Ministries of Youth Affairs and Sports and HumanResource Development only. The Committee feels that the Executive Committee shouldalso have wide representations for managing the day to day working of the Fund.Accordingly 4-5 PSUs/Banks/Private bodies/Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Department ofFinancial Services and Department of Public Enterprises should be given representation inthe Executive Committee also. (Para 26)

The Committee also takes this opportunity to point out that the scheme of NSDF wasframed in the year 1998. At that time, Youth Affairs and Sports was one of the Departmentunder the Ministry of Human Resource Development. This explains the presence of therepresentatives of the Ministry of Human Resource Development in the composition of thecouncil and the Executive Committee. Now that the Department of Youth Affairs and Sportshas become a full fledged Ministry, the presence of the representatives of the Ministry ofHuman Resource Development seems to be inconsistent in the scheme. The Committee,accordingly, recommends the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to relook into theprovision and amend it accordingly. (Para 27)

II

RECRUITMENT AND PROMOTION OF SPORTSPERSONS

DoPT Circulars on Recruitment and Promotion of Sportspersons

The Committee feels that both recruitments and promotions of sportspersons werenot being given due importance. Current guidelines prescribe that Boards of Banks/PSUsand other organizations set aside upto 5 percent of posts to be filled by sportspersons. In

26

the absence of mandatory minimum cap, the banks/PSUs and other organizations have beenrecruiting sportspersons in varying percentage. This is creating confusion. The Committee,accordingly, recommends that DoPT should make at compulsory for all the Ministries/Departments to recruit 5 percent sportspersons. The Committee would further appreciate ifDoPT gives clear instructions to all the Ministries/Departments/organizations to effectivelyimplement its promotion policy for the sports persons. The Committee further observes asfollows:-

(i) Job reservation for Sportspersons may be made mandatory in CentralGovernment, its subordinate officers and undertaking including banks andinsurance companies;

(ii) 2 percent vertical and 3 percent horizontal reservation may be made mandatoryin case of shortfall in vertical reservation due to 50 percent limit gettingbreached, it should automatically get transfer to horizontal reservation;

(iii) In pay band II and III reservation for sports person may also be allowed forOlympic medalist and equivalent; and

(iv) SAI can function as nodal agency and work as employment exchange forrecruitment of sportspersons. (Para 59)

It has been learnt from the representation of Anju Bobby George that DoPT circulardated 26th July, 2012 was being restricted to the appoints from 2012 onwards when theguidelines were re-issued and provision of three out of turn of promotions was made. TheCommittee recommends that this circular should be construed as a guideline by all thedepartments and they should have liberal interpretation and should not restrict it andimplement it from prospective date. This is clarificatory guideline and must be applicable incase of all existing players. Hence, the Committee directs the Department of Customs andother Departments that if the existing players have not been given out of turn promotionsin their career, they must be considered for three out of turn promotions in phased mannermaking the post personal in case the player/employee has won medals in the /internationalsporting events during the course of employment even before 2011. Such players should notbe counted as normal department employees and parity should not be drawn with regularemployees. These players are ambassadors and pride of concerned organization who areconsidered as role model. The Committee also appreciated Department of Customs forrecruiting and retaining such world class players. The Department should handle suchplayers with care, dignity and respect and encourage them to provide guidance, coaching andlecture to youngsters in schools and colleges and in the sporting complexes. They shouldalso be encouraged to establish own academies/coaching centres or associate themselves withSAI or Ministry of Sports for sporting activities like coordination and motivation etc. TheDepartment may also come forward in establishing academies or adopting some coachingcentres where their talent could be utilized. (Para 60)

The Committee noted that most of the sports persons were being recruited in paybands I and II jobs only. The Committee feels that this practice should be rectified. Aplayer gives, the most productive years of his life to sports. Therefore while recruitingthese sportspersons they should be treated at par with pay band III officers based on theirsports achievements at National and International level. The Committee would appreciate ifthis aspect is also considered by the DoPT in right earnest. (Para 62)

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III

OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES

The Committee recommends that SAI and the Department of Sports should givefunds for proper maintenance of the sports facilities at SAI centres in India. TheDepartment of Sports should also ask the PSUs, PSBs and other organizations to adopt oneof the sports disciplines and improve the facilities at the SAI centre. (Para 66)

Representation of Sportspersons in SAI

The Committee in its 34th Report on the India’s Performance in International

Sports in 1995 had made the following observations on the restructuring of Sports

Authority of India (SAI):--

‘one of the general complaints received by the Committee was that the sportsadministrators, particularly most of the officials of the Sports Authority of India (SAI)had no sports background. It was cited as one of the reasons for lack of direction in thesports arena.’

‘the Committtee observed that there was a lot of dissatisfaction about the structure andfunctioning of the Sports Authority of India (SAI). It was complained that SAI hadbecome a huge and unwieldy organization, with completely bureaucratic characteristics.There are a number of Directors, Deputy Directors and other paraphernalia which wasnot originally contemplated. There are a number of square pegs in the round holes.It is a sort of inverted pyramid. All the powers are centralized at the headquarters. TheRegional Centres some of which like the Bangalore one-doing excellent work-aredeprived of financial powers due to lack of autonomy. Even for small matters, theyhave to get clearance from the headquarters of SAI at Delhi, including sanctioning ofsmall expenditure. The Committee found that such a bureaucratic functioning of theSAI is proving to be a major obstacle in the free and smooth functioning of theRegional Centres. The Committee feels that the Regional Centres should be delegatedadequate financial and administrative powers so as to cater to their day-to-dayrequirements for the efficient and smooth functioning of these Centres. Theatmosphere in SAI needs to be made a sports-friendly rather than the existingmonolithic bureaucratic organization. The Committee feels that unless these Centresare strengthened, we cannot expect better results from them. Work and accounts of theCentres should be periodically audited and monitored by the competent authority. TheSAI in Delhi could be just a coordinating authority and should concentrate on policy,planning and monitoring. There should be a Sub-Regional Centre of SAI in each State,with a Director in charge of it’. (Para 68)

The Committee finds that there has been no change in the situation till now. TheSports Authority of India continues to function in the same bureaucratic manner.Surprisingly, sports persons were not being represented at any level in the functioning ofSAI even today. Many of the Sports Institutes are headed or managed by persons nothaving any sports background. The Committee feels, the situation requires immediatecorrective steps. (Para 69)

Involvement of sportspersons in the functioning of SAI could go a long way increating good infrastructure and sports facilities at every level as the sportspersons are

28

familiar with the kind of facilities infrastructure coaching, diet, training and support serviceare required for the sportspersons. (Para 70)

The Committee further notes that there were nine regional centres of SAIfunctioning at Bengaluru, Kolkata, Gandhinagar, Bhopal, Sonepat, Chandigarh, Lucknow,Imphal and Guwahati. The Committee desires that each one of the Regional Centres shouldbe headed by a Regional Director with full powers are or two executive Directors in Delhicould look after the administrative and coordinating works of the organization as well asmatters relating to the teams. A full time Chairman-cum-managing Director with goodsports background should be appointed as the Director-General of SAI. (Para 71)

Engagement of Retired Sportspersons as Coaches

The Committee was informed that there is lack of good coaches for giving trainingto juniors in the SAI centres. The Committee feels that there have been many outstandingsports persons who had retired from active sports and can work as coaches. The Committeefeels that such sportspersons with their experience and expertise could nurture and bringup a new generation of sports persons besides providing much needed financial help toretired sportsperson. (Para 72)

While deliberating on the subject it was brought to the notice of the Committee thatBCCI was giving pension to its retired cricketers. The Committee feels that SAI should alsodevise a mechanism to provide pension to the sportspersons from NSDF after they retirefrom active sports life. This would serve as a social security for the sports person and theywould be able to level their life independently and with dignity. (Para 73)

Sportspersons not to be Engaged in Day to Day Administrative Work

The Committee took serious note of the fact that organisations/departments, whichare recruiting sportsperson, engage them in day to day administrative work of theorganisation. The Committee feels that recruitment of a sportsperson in an organisationis a value addition to that organisation and instead of engaging him/her in AdministrativeWork, he/she should be given opportunity to excel in the sports and also to train andmentor junior sports persons. (Para 75)

Equal Remunerations for Coaches

The Committee was also given to understand that the foreign coaches engagedby various bodies/organisations were being paid higher remuneration vis-a-vis theIndian coaches. The Committee feels that this practice is uncalled for if we desire topromote sports in the country. The Committee would appreciate if grading of coachesis done and equal and uniform remuneration is paid to both foreign and Indiancoaches. (Para 79)

29

MINUTES

XVIII

EIGHTEENTH MEETING

The Committee on Human Resource Development met at 3.00 P.M. on Friday, the17th July, 2015 in Main Committee Room, Ground Floor, Parliament House Annexe, New Delhi.

MEMBERS PRESENT

1. Dr. Satyanarayan Jatiya — Chairman

RAJYA SABHA

2. Dr. Bhalchandra Mungekar

3. Shri Vishambhar Prasad Nishad

4. Shri Basawaraj Pattil

5. Shrimati Sasikala Pushpa

6. Shri Tiruchi Siva

LOK SABHA

7. Shrimati Santosh Ahlawat

8. Shrimati Kothapalli Geetha

9. Prof. Chintamani Malviya

10. Shri Bhairon Prasad Mishra

11. Shri Hari Om Pandey

12. Dr. Bhagirath Prasad

13. Shri N.K. Premachandran

14. Shri Mullappaly Ramachandran

15. Dr. Nepal Singh

16. Dr. Prabhas Kumar Singh

17. Shri P.R. Sundaram

18. Shrimati P.K. Sreemathi Teacher

SECRETARIAT

Shri N.K. Singh, Additional Secretary

Shri Mahesh Tiwari, Director

Shri Vinay Shankar Singh Joint Director

Shri Himanshi Arya, Assistant Director

31

32

WITNESSES

(I) Department of Financial Services

1. Shri Hasmukh Adhia, Secretary

2. Shrimati Snehlata Srivastava, Additional Secretary

3. Shri Mohammad Mustafa, Joint Secretary

4. Shri K. Unnikrishnan, Dy. CEO, IBA

(II) Ministry of Corporate Affairs

1. Shri Pritam Singh, Additional Secretary

2. Shrimati Sibani Swain, Economic Adviser

(III) Department of Public Enterprises-

1. Shri Ameising Luikham, Secretary

2. Dr. Madhukar Gupta, Joint Secretary

3. Shri Rajesh Kumar Chaudhry, Joint Secretary

4. Shri J N Prasad, Director

(IV) Department of Sports

1. Shri Ajit M. Sharan, Secretary

2. Shri Onkar Kedia, Joint Secretary

3. Shri Vivek Narayan, Director

4. Shri Sagar Preet Hooda, Director

(V) Sports Authority of India

1. Shri Injeti Srinivas, Director General

2. Shri S.C. Sharma, Director (Coord.)

(VI) Department of Personnel and Training

1. Shri Sanjay Kothari, Secretary

2. Ms. Mamta Kundra, Joint Secretary

(VII) Department of School Education and Literacy

1. Shri Subhas Chandra Khuntia, Secretary

2. Dr. (Smt.) Satbir Bedi, Joint Secretary

3. Shri D.K.D Rao, Deputy Secretary

(VIII) Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan-

1. Shri Santosh Kumar Mall, Commissioner

2. Shri G.K. Srivastava, Additional Commissioner (Admn.)

3. Shri S. Vijaya Kumar, Joint Commissioner (Admn.)

4. Dr. E. Prabhakar, Joint Commissioner (Pers.)

33

2. At the outset, the Chairman welcomed the Members to the meeting of the Committeeconvened to hear the Secretaries, Department of Financial Services, Department of PublicEnterprises, Department of Personnel and Training and Department of Sports along withDirector General, Sports Authority of India and Additional Secretary, Ministry of Corporate ofAffairs, on the Promotion of Sports and Recruitment of Sportspersons in Central Public SectorUndertakings and Public Sector Banks.

3 . The Secretary, Department of Sports, submitted before the Committee that additionalresources are required for creating more job opportunities for sportspersons. Sports being aState subject, the grass-root developmental works are only done by the State Government.Nevertheless, Sports Authority of India, Department of Sports along with National SportsFederations play important roles in national team selection, customized coaching, internationalevents participation, etc. He explained that the National Sports Development Fund wascreated from contributions from different corporate sectors which are given 100 per cent taxexemption. The major contributors to this fund are BCCI, Jaiprakash Industries and IndiaInfrastructure Finance Corporation Limited. To solicit contributions from corporate sector,the Department of Sports has developed different structures, some of which are directcontribution to the National Sports Development Fund, adoption of a particular game,adoption of a particular athlete, etc. Target Olympic Podium is a new scheme introduced byDepartment of Sports where top athletes, who are likely medal prospects in the forthcoming2016 and 2020 Olympic Games, are identified and supported. The funds for this Scheme aretotally borne out of National Sports Development Fund. Regarding the issue of providingmore career opportunities to the athletes, the Department of Personnel and Training hasformulated a policy where upto 5 per cent of the positions can be taken out of the purviewof normal selection boards and be filled up by sportspersons. The major recruiters ofsportspersons are Railways, Defence Services, ONGC and Oil Companies. However, manyother Public Sector Undertakings have a long way to go in recruiting sportspersons.Therefore, there is a need for formulating a policy for employment of sportspersons inPublic Sector Undertakings and Public Sector Enterprises. He submitted that there is also aneed to work out a policy as to how the sporting talent of sportspersons can be furtherutilised in sports once their active playing career is over, as most of the sportspersons, afterrecruitment, are totally disconnected or disassociated with the game that they have played alltheir lives and because of which they have been recruited.

4 . The Additional Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, submitted that the activitiesincluded in Corporate Social Responsibility are decided by the Company’s Board and theGovernment of India does not have any say beyond a certain limit. A high level committee hasbeen constituted to monitor the contributions made by various private organizations and PublicSector Undertakings under Corporate Social Responsibility and the report of this committee isexpected at the end of August, 2015. He informed that under the new Companies Act, thecompanies with `1000 crores of turn over or above or `500 crores of net worth or above or`5 crores of profits or above have to spend 2 per cent of their average net profit in thepreceding three financial years on CSR activities. He pointed out that National SportsDevelopment Fund has not been included in Schedule VII of the Companies Act but sports, ingeneral, have been mentioned.

5 . The Secretary, Department of Financial Services, pointed out that as banks are notregistered under the Companies Act, it is not mandatory for them to contribute under CorporateSocial Responsibility. He pointed out that, so far, 1903 state level and national level playershave been recruited in various Public Sector Enterprises, not only in clerical cadres, but also

34

in officer cadres. The Bank which recruited the highest number of sportspersons is State Bankof India, having recruited 420 sportspersons, the other banks are Vijaya Bank, Syndicate Bank,Central Bank of India, Bank of India etc.

6 . The Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises submitted that there was a policy forrecruiting sportspersons since 1984. However, the Department of Public enterprises, in 1997,suspended many guidelines and among them were the guidelines for recruitment ofsportspersons. He apprised the Committee that, in consultation with the Department ofPersonnel and Training, he would examine if there is a need for the said guideline to becirculated again. He explained that Corporate Social Responsibility is under Schedule VII of theRules as notified by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs which contains five funds, of which fourof them are Fund for Swachh Bharat Kosh; Fund for Clean Ganga; Fund for Prime Minister’sNational Relief and Fund for Technological Incubation in Academic Institutions. However,National Sports Development Fund is not included in that Schedule. He submitted that he wouldtake up the matter for inclusion of National Sports Development Fund in the Schedule VII withthe Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

7 . The Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training, submitted that since 1984,they have issued a guideline whereby upto 5 per cent seats of group ‘c’ and ‘D’ jobs maybe reserved for sportspersons. However, this guideline was withdrawn. He apprised theCommittee that efforts will be made to re-issue this guideline in all Public SectorUndertakings. He also pointed out that another guidel ine was f ramed whereinsportspersons, who won medals in Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, Asian Gamesand World Championships, would be given out of turn promotion. He iterated that theseguidelines must be applied in the most transparent manner so that deserving candidates getthese opportunities. A policy was also framed that sportspersons, who are recruited invarious Public Sector Undertakings, must be allowed to play until their sporting careers areover.

8 . The Chairman and Members raised queries which were replied to by the Witnesses.

(The witnesses then withdrew)

9. The Committee, then, interacted with the Secretary, Department of School Educationand Literacy and Commissioner, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan on the transfer and promotionpolicy in respect of teaching staff in Kendriya Vidyalayas. The Chairman and Members raisedqueries which were replied to by the Secretary and the Commissioner. The Committee wasassured that the promotion policy for the post of Vice-Principal would be reconsidered and theCommittee would be apprised of the same within a month.

10. A verbatim record of the proceedings was kept.

11. The Committee then adjourned at 5.00 P.M.

35

XIXNINETEENTH MEETING

The Committee on Human Resource Development met at 10.00 A.M. on Monday, the10th August, 2015 in Room No. 67, First Floor, Parliament House, New Delhi.

MEMBERS PRESENT

1. Dr. Satyanarayan Jatiya — Chairman

RAJYA SABHA

2. Shri Vishambhar Prasad Nishad

3. Shri Basawaraj Patil

4. Shri Sharad Pawar

LOKSABHA

5. Shri C.R. Chaudhary

6. Shri Bhairon Prasad Mishra

7. Shri Hari Om Pandey

8. Dr. Bhagirath Prasad

9. Shri N.K. Premachandran

10. Shri Sumedanand Saraswati

11. Dr. Prabhas Kumar Singh

12. Shri P.R. Sundaram

SECRETARIAT

Shri R.B. Gupta, Joint Secretary

Shri Mahesh Tiwari, Director

Shri Vinay Shankar Singh, Joint Director

Shrimati Himanshi Arya, Assistant Director

2. At the outset, the Chairman welcomed the Members to the meeting of the Committeeconvened to consider and adopt the draft 270th Report on the Performance of National SportsDevelopment Fund and Recruitment and Promotion of Sportspersons (Part I).

3. The Committee considered the draft 270th Report on the Performance of National SportsDevelopment Fund and Recruitment and Promotion of Sportspersons (Part I) and adopted the sameafter some discussion.

4. The Committee, then, decided to present/lay the above mentioned Report in both the Housesof Parliament on 13th August, 2015. The Committee authorized the Chairman and in his absence,Shri Basawaraj Patil, M.P., Rajya Sabha to present the Report in the Rajya Sabha and Dr. BhagirathPrasad, M.P., Lok Sabha and in his absence, Shri Sumedanand Saraswati, M.P., Lok .Sabha to laythe Report in the Lok Sabha.

5. The Committee then adjourned at 10.40 A.M.

35

ANNEXURE

LIST OF WITNESSES

1. Shri P. Gopichand, Sportspersons

2. Shrimati Ashwini Nachappa, Sportspersons

3. Shri Viren Rasquina, Sportspersons

4. Smt. Anjali Bhagwat, Sportspersons

5. Shrimati Anju Bobby George, Sportspersons

6. Allahabad Bamk

7. Bank of India

8. State Bank of India

9. Union Bank of India

10. United Commercial Bank

11. Central Bank of India

12. IDBI Bank

13. Bank of Maharashtra

14. Bank of Baroda

15. Dena Bank

16. Canara Bank

17. State Bank of Mysore

18. Vijaya Bank

19. Syndicate Bank

20. Corporation Bank

21. Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd.

22. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd.

23. Coal India Limited

24. Damodar Valley Corporation

25. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited

26. Indian Oil Corporation

27. Life Insurance Corporation of India

28. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited

39

40

29. Steel Authority of India

30. Air India

31. Bharat Earth Movers Limited

32. Bharat Electronics Limited

33. Gas Authority of India Limited

34. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited

Printed at : Bengal Offset Works, 335, Khajoor Road, Karol Bagh, New Delhi-110005.