NEW DELHI: Members across the political spectrum on Thursday expressed concern over the inadequate sports infrastructure in the country and underscored the need for a national policy with emphasis on developing indigenous sports and special attention to events other than cricket.

Opening the discussion, which remained inconclusive after two and a half hours, Naveen Jindal (Congress) said it was time that attention was paid to events that figure in Olympics. He suggested companies be given tax concessions to sponsor Olympic sports and ensure that there were adequate number of coaches.

Mr. Jindal, who is keen on shooting, also highlighted the plight of shooting in the country, such as lack of ammunition, problems faced by top shooters in getting duty-free guns from abroad or a licence.

He suggested cash rich bodies like the Board of Control for Cricket in India should set aside funds for development of Olympic sports and urged the Government to exempt customs duty for imported equipment.

China's success

China's success at international events like the Olympics and World Cups was mentioned by several members, while many raised the controversy surrounding former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly.

However, at the outset, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee urged members not to make observations that make it appear that a particular player's cause was being espoused. While the discussion was absorbing, attendance remained thin and most younger MPs were absent. Rahul Gandhi, who was spotted when the debate began, left the House soon after. Minister of State for External Affairs Rao Inderjit Singh, a national shooter himself, was present for a longer period.

A number of Arjuna Awardees, including Olympians Jagbir Singh and Dhanraj Pillay (Hockey) and shooter Jaspal Rana was present in the visitors gallery during the debate.

Jyotirmoyee Sikdar (Communist Party of India-Marxist), an Asian Games gold medallist herself, said Sourav Ganguly's exclusion from the team became an issue since cricket was followed with keenness in the country, while an uncertain selection process was a regular feature in other sports.

She also said the manner in which sports associations were run needed to be looked into. In some cases the office bearers never retired. She said sportspersons should have assured jobs. P. Ravindran (CPI), A. Krishnaswamy (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam), Suresh Prabhu (Shiv Sena), K.C. Singh Baba (Congress) and Tataghat Satpathy (Biju Janata Dal) stressed the need for a holistic development of human resource with sports as an integral part of the curriculum, development of infrastructure at tehsil level and promotion of indigenous sports and physical education.

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