PM says betterment of sports top priority, forms task force

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Tuesday ordered the constitution of a task force on sports to review the performance of sports organisations and make recommendations for administrative reforms in the field.

He said this while chairing a briefing on Inter-Provincial Coordination Ministry at the Prime Minister’s Office.

IPC Minister Fehmida Mirza, IPC Secretary Jamil Ahmed, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ehsan Mani and senior government officials were present during the meeting.

Jamil Ahmed briefed the PM about the functions of the ministry and performance of various attached departments including PSB, PCB, Inter Board Committee of Chairman, Pakistan Veterinary Medical Council, National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA), and National Internship Program.

Discussing the budgetary allocations of the ministry and various development schemes for promoting sports in the country, the PM was informed that various important schemes worth billions of rupees were left incomplete since 2008 with little progress on physical infrastructure. The PM directed that all pending schemes should be reviewed in order to ascertain their utility and reasons for their incompletion.

Discussing the performance of various sports federations and associations, it was decided to take on the plethora of sports federations for non-performance resulting in a pathetic outlook of Pakistan sports despite getting funding from various national and international sources including federal and provincial governments and enjoying tenures for more than a decade. The aim is to revamp the whole ambit of sports, from infrastructure to organisational structures and operating systems, for introducing merit, transparency and performance criteria so that Pakistan, a nation of over 200 million with 60 per cent population below 30 years, could rule the sports world. It was also decided that the government organisations dealing with sports would also be revamped and re-structured as they too have failed to achieve the purpose for which they were created.

It was decided during the meeting to constitute a task force on sports to review the performance of all sports bodies, analyse the efficacy and utilisation of various funds received from various sources and suggest administrative reforms for promoting sports at national as well as regional level.

The PM also directed that as a first step enhancing sports grounds should be focused to provide an opportunity for the youth to manifest their talent and excel in sports.

Reviewing the progress of various youth-focused programmes, it was informed that a liability of over 01 billion was pending in lieu of payment of stipend to the interns under the National Internship Program.

“Improvement in sports is a need of time and a top priority,” he said.