IOA EC ratifies sub-committees, secretary questions process

The committees, formed by IOA president Narinder Batra in the final week of May, were sent for IOA Executive Council approval on July 8.

Published : Jul 20, 2020 17:06 IST , New Delhi

The committees were formed by IOA president Narinder Batra in the final week of May.

The committees were formed by IOA president Narinder Batra in the final week of May.

The tussle within the Indian Olympic Association seems unending with the formation of various internal committees being the latest point of discord.

On Monday, IOA president Narinder Batra confirmed Executive Council approval for 14 committees formed in the last week of May. These include committees for legal issues, sponsorship and marketing and to oversee preparations for the 2021 World Beach Games and the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Batra had written to EC members on July 8 for the same. “In order to bring more efficiency in IOA working, I am working towards a plan to decentralise the working within IOA and involve more people for recommendation/decision making process...Since we have no tested voting mechanism in place in IOA as of now for online voting hence I am sending the 17 mails for your vote for ratification...” Batra wrote seeking replies within seven days.

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Of the 32 EC members, eight did not reply while 20 of the remaining 24 agreed to the decisions in toto. Interestingly, the 2021 Beach Games have already been postponed to 2023.

However, IOA Secretary General Rajeev Mehta has questioned the composition of the committees and Batra’s authority to constitute them. "Since it is the duty of the Secretary General and not of the President to circulate the notice and agenda of meetings of the Executive Council and the agenda with ten days’ notice, the composition of the Committees would be further discussed and corrected in view of the above mentioned reasons, and sent in due course of time,” Mehta has written.

He has also sought 30 percent representation for women in all committees of IOA and objected to the exclusion of six-time Olympian luger Shiva Keshavan from the committee to oversee preparations for the 2022 Winter Olympics.