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Ha, ABCD.

meanwhile......

Let’s build sport, not stadiums: Dutt

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Curbing unnecessary expenditure, especially in the form of mammoth stadium complexes mushrooming all over the country, will be a key part of Sunil Dutt’s agenda as Sports Minister. And he is willing to consider the Chinese model, where top sporting events — National Games, for example — are held in select locations, not spread through the country as a sop.

This will be one of the issues discussed at a meeting of state sports ministers Dutt plans to hold after the Olympic Games. The meeting, a first of sorts in recent times, will not only give him firsthand information on the condition of sports infrastructure in each state but also provide him with data on how the public money is spent.

‘‘I am willing to do it. I know it may not please everyone, but I can’t help it. Unless we do certain things, however unpleasant they may be, you can’t improve the system. The existing one has several loopholes and we’re good at exploiting them’’, he said, with a hint of that famous smile.

Another point on his agenda is keeping an eye on the sports federations, for which he would be meeting with federation chiefs and secretaries. ‘‘I don’t want to intrude into any federation’s autonomy. But at the same time I am answerable to the public at large because it’s their money that is being spent on everything we do. That’s why I reiterate the point that sportspersons are my priority.”

To illustrate the point, the minister pointed to the fact that he had to read the newspapers to learn that his ministry had spent Rs 42 lakh on the hockey team’s fitness training programme in the US. ‘‘After I gatecrashed into a farewell function at the National Stadium where I was not invited!’’

Obviously hurt, Dutt has also ordered his staff and people concerned in SAI for action-taken report on all issues — as and when they come — within a week’s time.
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Step One for Indian sports, Mr. Dutt, remove these bloody netas from the top positions at these Federations who have been sitting on them like serpents.