The Lok Sabha has taken up discussion on India’s preparedness for the upcoming Olympic Games. Initiating the discussion in the House, Dr Sanjay Jaiswal of BJP said that the Narendra Modi government has taken several steps for the promotion of sports in the country. He said, under the NDA government the budgetary allocation has been increased from one thousand 219 crore rupees in 2014 to 3 thousand 397 crore rupees now. He said, the government has spent a total of 470 crore rupees on the athletes in 16 disciplines for the upcoming Olympic games in Paris. He also informed that an allocation of around 42 crore rupees was made towards the preparation of Indian Men’s Hockey.
Dr Jaiswal said the government is also providing all kinds of training and facilities to the athletes so that they could perform better in the games and win medals. Participating in the discussion Deepender Singh Hooda of Congress said that sports should be kept beyond politics. He stressed the need to put in place a policy for identifying the talents of sportspersons, supporting them and securing their future.
Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju took exception to Deepender Hooda for bringing up the issue of the Sports Federation and doing politics over it during his speech. He said, whatever steps have been taken by the Narendra government for sportspersons and sports, no other government has taken in the last 75 years. The discussion is underway.
