"Ajay Maken has done a great job and my job is to carry forward what he has done," Jitendra Singh told the media after taking over as Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports here today.
The new minister, however, made it clear that he would like to take the National Sports Federations (NSFs) on board when asked if he would be pushing for the implementation of the Sports Bill, which was drafted by Maken.
"I don't think it is necessary to fight with anyone. I would like to speak to all the associations and take everybody on board. But of course, the dominance should be on sportsmen and sports," insisted Jitendra Singh.
"I always feel that in any job, may it be my ministry, may it be my job here, there should be transparency and there should be accountability. That is important everywhere...In government, in any organisation. But it will be premature for me to say anything right now. Let me have interaction with all the stake holders and try to take it forward," he added.
Sports Bill, which was introduced by Maken, was aimed at bringing in transparency and accountability in all sports bodies wherein all the NSFs are expected to comply with the directives within a year.
The Bill also sought to make elections compulsory every four years and also had age and tenure restrictions for sports administrators.
Immediately after assuming charge, Jitendra Singh had a detailed meeting with the sports secretary and discussed various issues concerning the department.