News on AIR

The Lok Sabha took up discussion on India’s preparedness for the upcoming Olympic Games. Initiating the discussion in the House, Dr Sanjay Jaiswal of BJP said that Narendra Modi government has taken several steps for the promotion of sports in the country. He said, under the NDA government the budgetary allocation has been increased from one thousand 219 crore rupees in 2014 to 3 thousand 397 crore rupees now. He said, the government has spent a total of 470 crore rupees on the athletes in 16 disciplines for the upcoming Olympic games in Paris. He also informed that an allocation of around 42 crore rupees was made towards the preparation of Indian Men’s Hockey. Dr Jaiswal said, the government is also providing all kinds of training and facilities to the athletes so that they could perform better in the games and win medals. Another BJP MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy said that it is also the responsibility of Parliamentarians to promote sports in the country. Participating in the discussion Deepender Singh Hooda of Congress said that sports should be kept beyond politics. He stressed the need to put in place a policy for identifying the talents of sportspersons, supporting them and securing their future.

Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju took exception to Deepender Hooda for bringing the issue of Sports Federation and doing politics over it during his speech. He said, the initiatives taken by Narendra Modi government for sportspersons and sports, no other government has taken in the last 75 years.

Neeraj Maurya of the Samajwadi Party extended his good wishes to the Indian contingents participating in the Olympic games which is being held in Paris. He demanded the government ensure that there should be no politics in sports.

Kirti Azad of AITC sought to know from the government what steps have been taken for the athletes to prepare them to participate in international games. He also raised the issue of vacant posts of coaches in the country. Members including D M Kathir Anand of DMK, Shrirang Appa Chandu Barne, Abhay Kumar Sinha of RJD and Kaushalendra Kumar of JD(U) were among those who participated in the discussion. However, the discussion remained inconclusive