Himachal all set to re-enact Sports Act 2005

Himachal Pradesh government is all set to re-enact the Sports (Registration, Recognition and Regulations of Associations) Act which was repealed by the previous regime after coming to power in 2008.
The draft Bill which would cover all sports bodies, including the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) has been cleared by the law department and an Ordinance might be promulgated, official sources said.
The Act, passed in 2005, was challenged by HPCA contending that it did not come under the purview of the Act.
The case was pending in the court when the BJP government returned to power and repealed the Act in 2008.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today said at Una that HPCA and other sports bodies should come under RTI Act.
"When government departments are covered under RTI why the sports bodies, especially HPCA which have been given lands worth crores of rupees on lease of Rs 1 should not be brought under the RTI Act," Singh asked.

Virbhadra rubbished the charge that the government was acting with political vendetta against HPCA.
"FIRs have been registered after initial probe by Vigilance and Anti-corruption Bureau and all these charges were included in the charge-sheet submitted by the Congress (while they were in opposition) to President of India in August 2012," he said.

"The functioning of the sports bodies should be totally transparent and elections to these bodies should be held in a proper manner and some representatives of government should also be included in these bodies and elections cannot be personal affair.