NEW DELHI: The Sports Ministry will soon launch a Request for Proposal (RfP) to hire international consultants for recruiting professionals to execute the flagship Target Olympic Podium (TOP) and Khelo India programmes, Indian Express reports.
Sports Minister and Olympic Silver winner Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore told the newspaper that his ministry is in the process of drafting professionals to monitor top sportspersons. These professionals and researchers will be hired for 15 priority sports the ministry has identified.
The ministry’s plan also includes the setting up of a 24×7, 365-day control room where the athletes’ performance will be monitored by professionals, including high performance managers.
The professionals will be given financial autonomy to reduce the red-tapism that has been criticised by several athletes, Rathore told Express.
“We are hiring high performance managers, who could be from outside the country as well. We are hiring CEOs, who will take care of administration, logistics and everything else. They will specifically look at the teams that will compete at the continental games and cater to them. So the red-tapism is out,” Rathore said.
“There will be a 24×7, 365 days control room where the athletes’ performance is constantly monitored by these professionals. We will give them the funds, so there is no bureaucracy,” he said, adding that the ministry will soon have a new office, Khel Bhavan, to house all officials and the control room. The plan is based on recommendations from the Olympic Task Force set up by the Prime Minister, he told the daily.
At present, these tasks are carried out by the government officials who are deputed with the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the Sports Ministry.
SAI officials will be made in charge of managing stadiums and centres of excellence, apart from communicating with various federations. “The mandate needs to be very clear. Overall, SAI will look after excellence and managing stadiums. Elite athletes will be in contact with the professional team, which we are putting in place now,” he said.
