By IANS,
New Delhi : Sports Minister M.S. Gill Wednesday held his predecessors responsible for the shoddy state of sport in the country.
Gill said the ministers who came before him were only concerned about getting plum postings and never bothered about sports.
“All the rules are made by babus and the sports ministers were only eyeing plum ministries. This is my observation since I have taken up the job,” he said.
“The pension for the sportsperson were as low as Rs.4,000 and that too for three years or four years. A pension is meant for lifetime but nobody saw these things. I have taken initiative and doubled the pension but I am still dissatisfied. I am determined to change the things for the better,” said Gill at the launch of book ‘Hockey Ka Jadugar’ on legendary Dhyanchand.
Gill said the state of affairs is such that even somebody like Dhyanchand faced financial problem in his last days.
“When Dhyanchand died in 1979, he was in economic distress. Is this the kind of treatment our sporting heroes deserve?”
Gill said that sport should be a part of personality development from the school level as it is in the western world.
“We do not pay attention to sports in schools. Sport is a major part of personality development. I will request the education ministry to ask schools throughout the country to celebrate National Sports Day (Aug 29), which is Dhyanchand’s birthday, in a big way,” he said.