Parliamentary committee passes bill related to sports development

Kathmandu, February 10

Education and Health Committee of the House of Representatives has passed the National Sports Development Bill-2018.

At a meeting of the committee held at Singha Durbar today, committee Chair Jaya Puri Gharti announced the endorsement of the bill unopposed. Puri said volleyball had been mentioned as the national game in the bill.

As per the bill, recommendation for the appointment of member-secretary of the National Sports Council will be made as per the committee’s decision. A three-member committee comprising secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, coordinator of the committee, a woman and an expert will recommend the name for member-secretary. The term of member-secretary will be for four years and s/he could be re-appointed for the next term, reads the bill. At present, the appointment of the member-secretary of NSC is made upon the direct recommendation of the ministry.

The bill has set criteria for the member-secretary candidate that s/he should be at least 30 years, have a bachelor’s degree and at least five years of work experience in the sports sector. The NSC will be a 17-member committee and there should be mandatory representation of four organisations — Nepali Army, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Committee member Jeevanram Shrestha said, “There is significant contribution of the four organisations to the development of sports sector in the country. Mandatory representation of the organisations in NSC has been made on the basis of their contribution.”

Similarly, the bill has also made provision for executive committee to run the NSC and finalised the definition of international athlete. The bill has defined the player, who has represented in the Olympics, Asian and South Asian Games, or games organised by International Games Association, Federation as well as world championships, as international athlete.

National-level athlete has been defined as a player who has participated in national sports championships.