The Union Sports Ministry announced on Wednesday that the National Institute of Sports (NIS), Patiala, was being separated from the Sports Authority of India (SAI), in an attempt to help it focus on the primary task of developing quality coaches.
Making the announcement at a press conference, the Union Sports Minister, Ajay Maken, stressed that the idea was to restore the stature of the NIS that had lost its focus over a period of time, quite glaring in the fact that only 172 coaches had passed the M.Sc course in sports coaching between 1980 and 2007.
To restore its academic character, the NIS would be treated as an ‘Institution of National Importance', for society at large, and a cabinet note would be moved to introduce a Bill in Parliament.
“It will be like the AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences), and will not require any affiliation to another parent institution,” Maken clarified.
Another study
There has also been another study by a committee under the chairmanship of Secretary Sports, to set up a National institute of sports sciences. The Minister said that the final touches were being given to that report.
It was mentioned that the vision of NIS as an independent institution would ensure the emergence of international standard coaches, apart from promoting research and development in different aspects of sports coaching.
The Minister stressed that the idea to separate NIS from SAI had been brewing for some time, and that the recent doping scandal involving athletes training at the NIS, had possibly speeded up the bifurcation. He was categorical that it was not enough to have a Director-level officer heading the institute.
“The head of the institution must be much higher than that, so that we can have a good faculty. We can then have both quality and quantity of coaches,” the Minister said.
He expressed confidence that with the growing strength of Indian sports, the demand for coaches would only increase, and the availability of quality Indian coaches would help in avoiding the dependence on foreign coaches.
He was optimistic that the Indian coaches would soon get paid much better, and the disparity of pay between the foreign and Indian coaches would vanish in due course of time.
Answering a query, the Minister said that the fate of the six athletes, who had been denied training facilities at the NIS following their dope test reports, would be dealt with by the Athletic Federation of India (AFI) and the SAI. He was categorical that the doped athletes would not be considered for National awards.
When asked about Mahabali Satpal being the chairman of the selection committee for the Dronacharya award when two coaches from his ‘akhara' were in the race, the Minister countered by saying that such accomplished sportspersons would naturally be associated with some cases, and that it would be a panel that would make the decision.
The government also had the scope to intervene, if necessary, he added.
On the subject of Sachin Tendulkar being on the verge of scoring his 100th international century, the Minister wished him and the team.
He also pointed out that not only for Sachin, but for Indian sports on the whole, he had requested for the inclusion of this field in awarding the Bharat Ratna.
