The Parliament on Friday took note of the plight of sportspersons in the backdrop of death of a woman athlete and suicide attempt by three others in Kerala on Thursday and MPs demanded sacking of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) chief. They also called for a law to effectively deal with "dictatorial" attitude of sports federations and associations.
Raising the issue in the Rajya Sabha during the Zero Hour, Pramod Tiwari (Congress) said the whole episode in Kerala smacks of corruption and nepotism in Sports Ministry. His party colleague Rajiv Shukla said the SAI was in bad shape and expressed concern over the plight of sportspersons training at various SAI centres. He demanded an enquiry commission to probe working of SAI and removal of its director general.
Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien termed the incident as very serious and senior Congress leader AK Antony agreed with him. He urged the government to hold the probe with "all seriousness" and take strong action.
leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad asked the government to direct the Sports Minister to give a statement about the incident and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi assured the house that the concerned minister will present all facts before the House. Naqvi also associated himself with the feelings of the members.