Ministry tells NSFs to hold elections month before expiry of term

In a bid to avoid unnecessary litigation that delays formation of new executive, the sports ministry has directed all sports federations to hold their elections a month before the term of the executive expires. The sports ministry has intimated this direction via a Demi Official (DO) letter to several federations, including the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) and the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWLF), to advance their elections.

It is understood that the ministry’s direction has come about because of mounting court cases due to delay in elections. The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) is the most recent example where an ad hoc body was appointed by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and where the elections have been stayed due to a High Court order after dispute over the composition of the electoral roll. The faction led by current president Ajay Singh had dropped former sports minister Anurag Thakur from the electoral roll as he was not part of the elected executive of the Himachal Pradesh Boxing Association.

Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that the direction was given to the sports bodies to avoid court cases. “Yes, a direction has been given to the sports federations to advance their elections," Mandaviya told The Tribune on Thursday.

“We have seen that delays in elections mostly lead to court cases and then subsequently an ad hoc body has to be appointed. All these unnecessary court cases can be avoided by holding the elections ahead of time and that is why we have directed the federations to advance elections according to our sports code," he added.

The DO letter, which was released in March, also urges the federations to notify the ministry well in advance about important meetings that are held to decide elections

“… As per the sports code 2011, it is mandatory to hold regular elections for office bearers and the executive/managing committee. Furthermore, federations are required to inform the government well in advance about their General Body Meetings and other important meetings where elections and key decisions are to be taken. Additionally, the ministry guidelines issued in 2015 mandate the national sports federations (NSFs) must conduct elections at least one month before the term of the current office bearers expires," reads the letter issued to the federations.

While IWLF president Sahdev Yadav was unavailable for comments, NRAI secretary general K Sultan Singh acknowledged that they have received such a letter from the ministry.

“We have to agree to this direction as it is being done to ensure high standards of good governance. We are not the only ones as a few other federations have also been issued the letter," Singh said.

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