There are currently 4 MPs in the Parliament who were sportspersons in the past. Two of them are in the Lok Sabha and two are in the Rajya Sabha. Together, they have asked only 8 questions related to sports and none of them is a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on sports.
After the Indian contingent’s disappointing performance in the Rio Olympics, the focus is now on sports infrastructure and state support for sport. There is nobody better than these Members of Parliament (MPs) who have been sportspersons in their past, to raise relevant questions about the status of sports in the country inside the Parliament. We look the questions asked by these MPs and if they are related to sports.
Kirti Azad – Lok Sabha
A total of 460 questions have been asked by various MPs relating to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in the 16th Lok Sabha.
Former Cricketer Kirti Azad who had been suspended from BJP for openly accusing Union Minister of Finance, Arun Jaitley for irregularities of funds in DDCA asked 4 of these 460 questions. He asked the following questions on sports:
- About mismanagement of Hockey
- About promotion of sports among disabled
- About financial assistance to sports
- About Irregularities in BCCI/IPL
Three of these questions were asked along with other MPs while the fourth one was asked only by him. Kirti Azad has asked a total of 271 questions so far in the 16th Lok Sabha out of which 4 are related to sports.
Prasun Banerjee – Lok Sabha
Prasun Banerjee was a former India Football player and a Trinamool Congress MP. He hasn’t asked a single question in the 16th Lok Sabha till date.
Sachin Tendulkar – Rajya Sabha
Former India Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar asked 14 questions in the Rajya Sabha till date. Only 4 out of the 14 are related to sports. The questions raised by him on sports are the following:
- About employment for ex-sportspersons
- About sports as compulsory subject
- About utilisation of stadiums and sports grounds
- About Yoga and sports as subject in schools
MC Mary Kom – Rajya Sabha
Olympic bronze medallist and boxer MC Mary Kom was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in April 2016 and since then, she hasn’t asked any question.
None of these four MPs are members of the Standing Committee on Sports.
While Kirti Azad is a member of the Standing Committee on Rural Development, both Prasun Banerjee and Sachin Tendulkar are members of the Standing Committee on Information Technology while MC Mary Kom is a member of the Standing Committee on Health & Family Welfare.
(This article has been published in an arrangement with Factly.)
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