All India Council of Sports (AICS) Chairman Vijay Kumar Malhotra has urged the central and state governments, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and National Sports Federations (NSFs) to provide a minimum of five percent vacancies reserved for players besides providing life-time medical insurance to retired sportspersons in the absence of CGHS facilities.
Addressing the 9th Meeting of AICS at the SAI Headquarters here on Friday, Malhotra said that many international level sportspersons are facing acute medical problem in the absence of proper medical care policy for retired sportspersons.
He added that even few active sportspersons do not get proper medical attention and treatment even while in peak resulting in their untimely retirement from active sports.
"I have taken up the matter with the Ministry of Health and also with the Prime Minister to extend CGHS facilities to sportspersons, but the matter is still under consideration," Malhotra said.
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Malhotra said that urgent attention is required to be given to retired sportspersons as they do not cover under any medical schemes of various departments of central government and state governments.
Highlighting the pathetic condition of some of the national level sportspersons who are forced to work as manual labour in brick-kiln, constructions sites or run fast food stalls on the pavement, the veteran BJP leader called for shaping a proper mechanism or scheme to provide assured employment to sportspersons.
The AICS has requested to the centre to amend the concerned DoPT guidelines so as to provide a minimum of five percent posts reserved for sportspersons instead of upto five percent which has resulted in not making it mandatory to keep the vacancies reserved for sportspersons.
Malhotra also requested all chief ministers to amend recruitment rules in their respective states on the same line.
--IANS
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