With sportspersons' travel affected, Rijiju requests railway minister to restore concession

CHENNAI/NEW DELHI: Sports minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday requested Piyush Goyal, minister of railways, commerce and industry, to restore concession in fares for sportspersons. This was done after he was apprised of the difficulties athletes were facing, especially when select national sports federations were conducting nationals.

Concession for sportspersons is crucial for most state units as funding the travel of athletes is usually difficult. Some NSFs felt sponsorship too would be a problem this year and without concessions athletes' turnout will be poor.

The railway ministry, through its circular dated March 19, 2020, had suspended fare concessions across 38 categories, which include sportspersons and senior citizens. It is understood that the move was aimed at discouraging train journey to contain the spread of coronavirus.

However, sporting activities have resumed in the country.

Take for instance, the Athletic Federation of India. They have already announced their calendar while the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has announced that they will hold their nationals in all categories on separate dates and in separate venues in January and February. The shooting camps and selection trials are on.

In his letter to Ravi Mittal, secretary of sports, IOA president Narinder Batra said, "Indian Railways is not only one of the biggest recruiter of the sportspersons but also provides support to national sports federations, state sports federations and state Olympic association by providing concession for their athletes and teams for train journey to participate in the all India, state and national tournaments.

"It is pertinent to mention that the sportspersons have to travel across the length and breadth of the country to participate in the tournaments. With withdrawal of this concession, it will obviously hamper the participation of athletes and teams in various tournaments and may lead to shut down of national championships since the IOA member units may not have funds to bear the additional costs of up to 75% discounts on Railway fares," Batra’s letter added.

He, however, was confident the issue would be resolved soon.

Rijiju informed the railway minister of the standard operating procedure and guidelines issued by the department of sports in consultation with the health and home ministry to resume sports competitions in Covid-19 environment. 

"Now, since the training and sports competitions have started, the sportspersons are facing difficulties due to withdrawal of the concession in passenger fares," wrote the sports minister.

Interestingly, concessions are withdrawn if an NSF is not recognised by the government and all 57 national federations were not recognised until October. Even now only 27 NSFs have been given recognition while 14 were asked to hold elections before December 31.