Maken hits back at BCCI, says should be more accountable

New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) A day after the proposed National
Sports Bill was rejected by the cabinet, Sports Minister Ajay
Maken on Wednesday hit out at the BCCI (Board of Control for
Cricket in India) saying that the cricket board needs to be
more accountable in its functioning.
Maken said the proposed bill was intended to make sports
bodies more transparent and efficient and was in no way an
attempt to take control of these National Sports Federations.
"I wouldn't want to say what happened in the cabinet
meting yesterday, I just like to reiterate the sport
ministry's stand and my stand. We are in no way trying to
control the sports federations or sports bodies," Maken told
reporters here.
"We don't intend to have our own representatives in any
way in any of the managements of these sports bodies, we don't
want to direct them, whether they would like to take Ajay
Maken as one of their members or some of others MPs or
ministers," he said.
Maken said was particularly disappointed with the
opposition to the bill by cricket administrators and said
federations need to be brought under the ambit of the Right to
Information Act for greater accountability.
"We just want transparency and efficiency in their
functioning, since they are sending teams outside India
representing the country, they should be answerable to all
Indians through RTI (Right to Information). Their accounts
should be known to public
through RTI, after all they are using government funds and
sending teams, so we want them to be accountable to the
citizens of India through RTI," he said.
Maken said that for example people would like to know for
how much did the BCCI get the land for the Ferozeshah Kotla
Stadium here or the ground at Dharamsala.

"The BCCI should point out what provisions are intrusive
in nature and which clauses will have government control. We
will remove all that but they should not oppose 25 per cent
representation of sports persons in the Executive Board and
the
RTI," Maken said.
"Secondly, they should have age restrictions, after all
in bureaucracy, we have 60 years as age of retirement, in
judiciary it is 65 and in others it is 62-63, we have kept the
age limitation at 70 years for sports federations," he said.
Explaining the nuances of the bill, Maken said having
sports persons in administration is a step towards
transparency.
"What we are saying is that 25 per cent of the executive
body should constitute of sports persons of the same game, we
are not saying govt will appoint that 25 per cent.
"What we are saying is that sports persons who have
played at the national level, they should among themselves
select, elect sports persons who should represent 25 per cent
of their executive body," he said.
"We want to give more power to sports persons, we want
them to be transparent in their accounting and entire process,
we want them to be answerable to the citizens of India because
after all they are sending teams which is representing India
as a nation," he added.
The cabinet had rejected the bill on Tuesday with
ministers such as ICC President Sharad Pawar, Mumbai Cricket
Association chief Vilasrao Deshmukh and J&K Cricket
Association head Farooq Abdullah opposing it.
The Ministers felt that the bill was seeking to control
rather than facilitate the development of sports and had
raised objections on the age and tenure restrictions.