New Delhi, Jan 17 (IANS): With the Indian sports scene undergoing constant transformation and producing new stars and champions every year, there is a constant need for money to support them and create infrastructure. One way to generate funds besides government support is through the business community's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts. Parth Jindal, Managing Director of JSW Cement, put forth some valuable suggestions on Thursday for the utilization of this funding in New Delhi.
Jindal shared his thoughts during the first-ever CSR round-table conference organized in the national Capital on Thursday, to strengthen the Indian sports ecosystem in order to host the 2036 Olympic Games. Union Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya urged corporates to adopt one sport.
Parth Jindal, Managing Director of JSW Cement, suggested that the government encourage private sector contributions by creating a separate sports fund. He also advised the government to address the lack of accountability in the federations, which are governed by the Indian Olympic Association, an autonomous body.
"I think what I mentioned to the government is that the most important thing is that Indian sports are governed by federations, and these federations are overseen by the Indian Olympic Association, which is an autonomous body. The issues within the federations, the politics, and the lack of accountability must be addressed," Path Jindal told the media after the meeting.
He also expounded on the special sports fund and said assistance should be given to only those federations that are performing well in terms of results and winning medals.
"You already have a sports budget, but we should also create a sports fund. Private sector contributions should be taken into account. Only federations that are performing in terms of results, medals, governance, and corporate responsibility should receive that funding," he added.
He said funding should be provided to federations that are performing in terms of governance and are following corporate responsibility principles. Funding should be provided based on performance, only in terms of governance, based on professionalism, based on feedback from athletes, feedback from coaches, and the international federation.
Jindal said he suggested to the government to support new sports that are coming into the Olympics like breaking in Paris and cricket and squash in Los Angeles. He said there should be support for sports like kho kho, pickleball, and padel which are coming up and have a level playing field. He said that the government should support these sports so that when one day these sports make it to the Olympics, our teams are ready.
He also suggested that employment generation could be done by supporting the labour-intensive sports goods industry. During COVID, the government had reduced Income Tax from 25 percent to 15 percent to encourage investment in heavy industries like Steel, cement, and power, a similar policy could be followed for sports, he said.