Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: The Government on Wednesday did not push for the passage of National Sports Governance Bill, 2025 and the National Anti-Doping (Amendment) Bill, 2025 in Lok Sabha despite being top on the day's agenda after the Opposition approached Speaker Om Birla demanding that the Bills be sent to a Parliamentary committee for further scrutiny.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju told Lok Sabha in the afternoon that the government was not pushing the Bills "on the request of the Opposition", while urging them to participate in the proceedings by dropping their demand for an immediate discussion on Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls as rules and conventions do not permit it.
While the gesture was seen as an attempt at conciliation to ensure smooth functioning of the House, the Minister did not give an assurance that the Bills will be sent for Parliamentary scrutiny. “We will take up the Bills later,” he said in the House.
DH has reported that the government has circulated amendments to practically take sports bodies like BCCI out of the ambit of RTI, days after introduction of the Bill on sports governance.
Earlier in the day, the opposition leaders met Speaker Om Birla and handed over a letter demanding that the two Bills be sent to a joint committee of Parliament, as there is a need for a “broader consensus considering their national importance”. The decision to approach the Speaker with a joint letter was taken at a meeting of I.N.D.I.A floor leaders on Tuesday morning.
As the Bills propose wide-ranging reforms in the governance, regulation, and ethical oversight of sports in India, they said they have “serious implications” for sportspersons, sports federations, and India's standing in international sporting bodies.
“In view of their national importance, the need for broad consensus, and the value of consulting relevant stakeholders, we respectfully request that both these Bills be referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for further deliberation,” the letter said.
"A JPC would ensure a more comprehensive and participatory process, allowing for careful scrutiny of the provisions, potential implications, and alignment with international standards. We hope this request will be taken into account to help ensure fair and effective governance reforms in the Indian sporting ecosystem," they said.
Congress' K C Venugopal, NCP-SP MP Supriya Sule, Trinamool Congress' Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, DMK's K Kanomozhi, Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Arvind Sawant, RSP's N K Premachandran, VCK's D Ravi Kumar, MDMK's Durai Vaiko and Muslim League's E T Mohammed Bashir among others signed the letter.
In a separate letter, CPI(M) Lok Sabha leader K Radhakrishnan demanded the Bills be sent to the relevant Standing Committee, as there are “several concerns surrounding the Bill, particularly its centralising tendencies, the potential erosion of autonomy of sports bodies and the lack of adequate consultation with sports associations and state-level authorities”.