New Delhi, Aug 30: Former Indian cricket captains Kapil Dev and Mohammed Azharuddin on Tuesday favoured the BCCI becoming a National Sports Federation and falling under the purview of the RTI Act, as proposed in the National Sports (Development) Bill.
The Bill will come up for discussion in the Cabinet on Tuesday and after getting the clearance, it is expected to be introduced in the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament.
BCCI, which is an autonomous body, and some other sports organisations such as Indian Olympic Association (IOA) have opposed the legislation but Kapil said the cricket body should not be thinking of defying the law.
"If government formulates a rule, the BCCI should follow the framework of the guidelines and I believe BCCI can work independently but must always toe the government line," Kapil, India's first World Cup winning captain, said at a seminar organised by the Confederation of the Indian Industries (CII).
Azharuddin, a Congress MP from Moradabad, said BCCI should not be exempted from the provision of the law.
"It is good for sports bodies and their professional running. It (law) should be for all Sports Federations and there should be no exception," he told reporters outside Parliament.
However, BCCI is still adamant and not ready to be covered by the legislation.
"I have not seen the draft Bill. Show me the draft Bill. How can it be under RTI when it does not take any grant from the government," BCCI Vice President Rajiv Shukla said.
Former cricketer Ajay Jadeja also said that BCCI should not be opposing the legislation.
"BCCI has done a great job but when a government passes a law, it can't look at individuals or one individual body, because sports is one. And if they come out with a Bill to cover all the sporting bodies, I don't see anything wrong in that," Jadeja said.
"Why should they (BCCI) worry. Government is not asking you to change the way you work or do not promote sport. They are not stopping you from doing anything. They are actually encouraging to do it in a more transparent way," he added.
The government view is that the Bill would bring in more accountability in the functioning of NSFs.
"We need reforms in sports, which we hope the National Sports Bill will bring. If passed, it will then go to the Parliament for resolution. I am hopeful that the Parliament will be unanimous on this Bill.
"We need reforms in sports which this Bill will bring in. The Bill will bring in transparency in NSFs," sports minister Ajay Maken had said on Monday.
Maken said if passed by the Parliament, the Bill would make it mandatory for NSFs to have 25 per cent reservation for sportspersons in their Executive Board. PTI
