New Delhi: Olympic medallists Mary Kom, Leander Paes and Saina Nehwal were named in an experts advisory panel of the Indian government that will be headed by Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.
The committee has been formed to seek counsel on how to identify and groom talent, monitor performance of athletes and coaches as well as ensure free and fair team selection.
A total of 17 sportspersons have been included in the panel with retired boxer Mary Kom, former tennis star Paes and shuttle queen Saina as members.
The government has picked Union Minister of State for Sports Raksha Khadse to be the vice chairperson and sports secretary/joint secretary to be the convenor.
According to a circular issued by the sports ministry, the panel will also have government delegates apart from retired eminent athletes from various sporting disciplines.
Aside from talent identification, the committee’s objectives will include advising for development of sub-junior and junior level athletes for training.
It would also oversee selection of national athletes/teams for transparent selection process, observe coaching facilities during national camps, analyse performance of India and foreign coaches that are hired for national teams and monitor performance of the players in national camps.
Reduce court cases
The panel would also keep an eye on performance of players in international events, address athletes’ grievances with national sports federations (NSF), provide guidance to Sports Authority of India and NSFs.
It would also provide government on functioning of NSFs and strive to ensure that they follow best governance practices.
The government also wants to use the panel to reduce number of court cases over selection policies by engaging in dialogues through one-on-one interactions.
The committee would also keep an eye on how to improve internal mechanism of institutions and provide feedback over infrastructure and facilities provided.
The other members of thia advisory committee are Shiny Abraham (athletics), Heena Sidhu (shooting), Maj Gen VK Bhatt (rowing), Zafar Iqbal (hockey), PK Garg (sailing), Armando Colaco (football), Ashok Kumar (wrestling), Bhanu Sachdeva (swimming), Parul Dansukhbhai Parmer (para badminton).
The CEO the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) and SAI’s executive director of teams division. Apart from the expert advisory committee, an expert panel was also formed to supervise activities.
The Sports Expert Panel:
Dola Banerjee (archery), Bhairavi Naik (cycling), Mohan Ukkrapandian (volleyball), Alka Tomar (wrestling), Shiv Singh (boxing), Ashwini Nachappa (athletics), Rani Rampal (hockey), Deepak Hooda (kabaddi), Vijender Singh (boxing), R Rajan (basketball), Saurav Ghoshal (squash), Cawas Billimoria (judo), Hansa Sharma (weightlifting), Devender Kumar Rathore (gymnastics), Debasish Biswas (mountain climbing), Rahul Choksi (mallakhamb) and Rachna Sharma (athletics).
The Indian government has formed a sports experts advisory panel that includes retired boxer Mary Kom, former tennis star Leander Paes and shuttle queen Saina Nehwal. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
