Will talk to Cabinet colleagues on Sports Bill: Maken

New Delhi, Sep 1 (PTI) Unfazed by rejection of his Bill,
Indian Sports Minister Ajay Maken on Thursday said he would
talk to his Cabinet colleagues to convince them but ruled out
any such effort with regard to BCCI bigwigs.
Maken, who is keen to cleanse the system of managing the
sports organisations by bringing in transparency and
accountability, asserted that his attempt was to prevent any
more scams like CWG.
In an interview to PTI, he rejected contention of the
opponents that he was bringing the National Sports Development
Bill to ensure that government gets control of the sports
bodies and expressed readiness to rework some of the clauses,
except those linked to transparency and accountability.
"I am sure I will be able to reason out with people who
are opposed (to the bill) because I am clear on one thing, we
do not intend to control or be intrusive. We will discuss with
them and we are willing to rework on any such provision which
they feel government wants to control", Maken said.
The Sports Bill was rejected by the Cabinet on Tuesday
after several ministers, having interests in sports bodies,
raised objections to many of the clauses, including cap on age
and tenure restrictions. Maken was told to redraft the Bill.
Asked specifically if he was willing to talk to BCCI
officials to find a way out, Maken said "BCCI has already
being talked to by our committee, so I would be talking to my
cabinet colleagues, I will try to convince them and discuss
with them".

On the strong opposition by some Union Ministers to some
clauses of the Bill, Maken said he was "willing to have a
re-look" without compromising aspects like efficiency and
transparency by bringing sports bodies under purview of RTI.
The Sports Minister was peeved at the BCCI's refusal to
come under RTI (Right to Information), saying people of the
country have a right to know how public money was being spent
as the Cricket Board gets indirect government benefits like
tax exemptions and land.
Insisting that BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in
India) cannot give the excuse of being an autonomous body to
escape RTI scrutiny, he said the Cricket Board should consider
itself a public authority under the RTI Act as it "directly or
indirectly" benefits from the
government.
"We are just saying that information regarding accounts
and functioning of the organisation should be given to the
citizens, particularly when you are sending Indian teams
outside for tournaments," Maken insisted and asked "what is
the problem in giving information to the public?"
He said "the biggest public functioning" that BCCI was
performing was sending Indian team, representing the nation,
outside for tournaments.
Maken also said that land has been given by the
government free of cost for all cricket stadia in the country.
"If you talk about resources or grants, there are some
indirect benefits. For example, did the DDCA have to pay for
the land for Ferozeshah Kotla Ground? Whenever matches are
organised, they earn in crores (of rupees)," he said.
He said the Cricket Boards also avail of entertainment
tax and custom duty exemptions, get income tax benefits and
don't pay for police security. "They get so much money from
tax benefits which is just like a grant," he contended.