Sports Minister M S Gill on Monday told the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) to clean up the mess and ensure that dope-tainted lifters do not disgrace the country anymore.

In a meeting with IWF president Harbhajan Singh at the Sports Ministry on Monday, Gill made it clear that while the athletes had to maintain a clear record, the federations too needed to come clean on financial matters and furnish audited accounts.

“Indian sports must have a clean and high reputation in the matter of drug use,” Gill told the IWF chief in the review meeting, which was convened after yet another Indian lifter, Kavita Rani, tested positive for banned substance.

He clarified that it was not only about weightlifting but his ministry would come hard on drug offence in any discipline.

Gill said country needed talented young sportspersons with impeccable records, and not drug cheats. He said he would look into the setting up of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA), which was formed recently, to ensure that it grows into an independent and efficient organisation of international repute.

He gave two months’ time to the federation to clean up the mess before another review meeting.