New Delhi: Union Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday said that the Ministry and the National Sporting Federations (NSF) are working together to improve the overall sports ecosystem in the country and focusing on finishing among top 10 in the 2028 Olympics.
The Sports Minister's remarks came after some section of media alleged that autonomous functioning of NSFs vis-a-vis perceived control of the Sports Ministry and Sports Authority of India (SAI) on their day-to-day functioning.
Rijiju had a detailed discussion with his officers regarding this issue and reiterate the common goal of the bodies.
"The common goal of the Sports Ministry, IOA and the NSFs are:
1. Improving the overall sports ecosystem of the country with a focus on identifying and nurturing grassroot level talents on the one hand and grooming elite athletes to achieve sporting excellence on the other.
2. Providing the best facilities to our athletes in terms of training, diet and top-level competition exposure.
3. To ensure that India finishes in the Top 10 in 2028 Olympics, an ambitious target declared by me as Sports Minister of the Country," Rijiju said in a statement.
Rijiju explained that the goal can only be achieved by the proper coordination between Sports Ministry, SAI, International Olympic Association (IOA) and NSFs.
"Government is committed to work closely with all NSFs and IOA to ensure that there is no gap in the communication between stakeholders. While reviewing the critical sporting activities, the autonomous functioning of the NSFs must be maintained at any cost," the statement read.
Adherence to the National Sports Code and Good Governance in NSFs are cornerstones of transparency and fairness in all it's conducts. The government is committed to provide the necessary support to NSFs for the promotion of sports and to ensure the well-being of our athletes is not compromised.
