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IT exemption highlight of new sports policy

The draft sports policy prepared by the government has proposed the creation of a national sports development fund, with a facility for 100 per cent income tax exemption to donors.

For mobilising additional resources, the policy provides for encouraging corporate houses to adopt particular disciplines and sportspersons on a long term basis.

Stating this in the consultative committee meeting of the Department of Sports and Youth Affairs, Minister for Human Resources Development S R Bommai said the draft policy had been circulated to all states, Union territories, national federations, ministries and related organisations in order to assess their views.

According to the policy, while the Centre will focus on achieving excellence at the national and international levels, the state governments will focus on broad-basing various disciplines within their jurisdictions.

It said the working of the national sports federations and assocations would be made more transparent, democratic, professional and accountable.

The policy prioritises the promotion of sports in schools and rural areas through creation of sports infrastructure as well as the creation of an appropriate competitive structure starting from the grassroots level. It also focusses on the need to mobilise village panchayats and youth and sports clubs for developing a national sports culture.

Talking about the government's proposal to bring sports on the concurrent list of the Constitution, Bommai said that already 16 state governments had accepted the proposal. Of the remaining nine, the state governments of Karnataka, Gujarat and West Bengal have stated that they are examining the proposal, while comments are yet to be received from Assam and Punjab.

Bommai said that the Parliamentary standing committee in a recent report had submitted that unless sports was brought under the concurrent list and a comprehensive legislation enacted by the Central government, sports activity in the country cannot be uniformly regulated and developed in an effective and coordinated manner.