The Hindu : Sport : Gill steers clear of contentious issues

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Wednesday, Apr 09, 2008
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Gill steers clear of contentious issues

Special Correspondent

— Photo: Shanker Chakravarty

M.S. Gill.

NEW DELHI: Steering clear of contentious issues that had dominated the sports circles in recent months, M. S. Gill said on Tuesday that the successful conduct of the 2010 Commonwealth Games would be his top priority as the new Union Youth Affairs and Sports Minister.

Mr. Gill advocated “dialogue” as the means of sorting out knotty issues including the relationship with the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the federations in the wake of the proposed National Sports Policy, as he took over charge of the Sports Ministry from Mani Shankar Aiyar on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference in his office, Mr. Gill was non-committal about an early passage of the sports policy, saying that he was yet to go through the document.

The IOA and the federations had opposed several clauses in the draft policy, contending that they threatened to erode their autonomy. Mr. Aiyar was, however, keen to take it forward in the hope that it would gain Cabinet and Parliament approval before the next General Elections.

Expressing his disappointment at the Indian hockey team’s failure to qualify for the Olympics for the first time, Mr. Gill said that his ministry would look into what could be done about hockey.

Unpredictable

Saying that sports was unpredictable, Mr. Gill drew comparison of the hockey team’s debacle with the performance of the cricket team in the last Test against South Africa, and pointed out that the team had turned from “hero to zero” on a sporting pitch at Motera.

Coming to the ticklish issue of his ministry’s dealings with federations, he said that the autonomy of the federations was protected by the Olympic Charter, but the Government had a certain role to play in the development of sports. “I have some idea, but I will listen and learn,” the minister said.

Pension scheme

Talking about the need to have a pension scheme for retired sportspersons who were medal winners at major games, Mr. Gill recalled how some of the top athletes like Parduman Singh and Makhan Singh had spent their old age in penury.

He also wondered how various States could respond so enthusiastically and extravagantly when the Indian Twenty20 team won the World championship but could not take care of other sportspersons who were in need of financial support.

Mr. Gill said that if the Indian women’s 4x400m relay team were to win the gold in the Beijing Olympics it would be a great achievement.

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