Govt employees can’t 'serve' sports bodies beyond one term

The influence of bureaucrats and government officials on the sports bodies is likely to reduce considerable with the Union Sports Ministry making it clear that no government employee can hold an elective office at any level of the federation for more than four years or one term, whichever is less.
Surprisingly the circular, issued on April 3, 2012, has hardly led to a debate like the one that was initiated by many sports federations when the proposed draft of the National Sports Bill attempted to restrict the tenure of the office bearers to 12 years with an age cap of 70.
According to the earlier provisions, government employees only had to seek permission from his/her department to contest elections or accept a position on the sports bodies. For year, bureaucrats ruled the sports federation at the district and state levels before politicians began replacing them in the last two decades.
Federations failing to make amendments to their constitution accordingly would not be recognised.
The circular clearly mentions that the state governments and union territories should also amend their laws accordingly. May be, it’s time for government officials to concentrate on the job at hand.