Sportspersons competing in tug-of-war, mallakhamb, rugby and basketball are now eligible for direct recruitment in Group C level government posts.
These three are among 20 new sports disciplines added to the existing list of 43 for recruitment in the central government.
The Ministry of Personnel on Tuesday issued an order in this regard and also include baseball, rugby, basketball and deaf sports among the new entries.
The decision came following a proposal from the Department of Sports for inclusion of some more disciplines in the list of 43 sports for recruitment of sportspersons to any Group C post in ministries/departments of government of India.
“It has now been decided to accept the recommendation of the Department of Sports,” the order issued by Undersecretary Pradeep Kumar said.
Accordingly, it said, the list of sports/games for the purpose of recruitment of sportspersons by the government of India is revised to have 63 sports disciplines.
Any sportsperson who has represented a state or the country in national or international competitions in any of the 63 games/sports are eligible for appointment for Group C level posts.
Those who have been awarded national awards in physical efficiency under the National Physical Efficiency Drive are also eligible for the appointment to such posts.
According to the instructions issued in 2013, "no such appointments can be made unless the candidate is, in all respects, eligible for appointment to the post applied for, and in particular, with regard to age, educational or experience qualifications prescribed under the recruitment rules applicable to the post, except to the extent to which relaxations thereof have been permitted in respect of class/category of persons to which the applicant belongs."
Previously, sports disciplines like archery, athletics, atya-patya, badminton, ball-badminton, basketball, billiards and snooker, boxing, bridge, carrom, chess, cricket, cycling, equestrian sports, football, golf, gymnastics (including body building), handball, hockey, ice-skiing, ice-hockey, ice-skating and judo were covered under the scheme.
Besides these, kabaddi, karate-DO, kayaking and canoeing, kho-kho, polo, powerlifting, rifle shooting, roller skating, rowing, soft ball, squash, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tenni-koit, tennis, volleyball, weightlifting, wrestling and yatching were also in the list.