New Delhi: Athletes of 20 new disciplines will henceforth be eligible for government jobs under the sports quota.
The ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports had suggested the inclusion of indigenous and traditional games like Mallakhamb, Tug of War, Roll Ball for appointment in Central Government offices.
The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) accepted the proposal on September 1, taking the number of sports disciplines which qualify for appointment of meritorious sportspersons from 43 to 63.
“To ensure the overall welfare of our athletes is of primary importance for the Government, and the proposal to include more sporting disciplines in the DoPT list is a step in that direction. It will be beneficial not only to boost the morale of the sports persons who are performing at National and International events but will also help to create a positive environment for overall development of sports in the country,” Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju said.
There’s tremendous jubilation amongst the sporting fraternity on the @narendramodi Govt’s decision to grant benefit of the sports quota to all sports discipline recommended by the Ministry. Earlier it had 43 disciplines. The new list includes indigenous and traditional games! pic.twitter.com/r2HTk8BN8e
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) September 2, 2020
The last time the list of sports was revised was in October 2013.
The 20 new disciplines added to the list are: Baseball, Body Building (was included as part of Gymnastics previously), Cycling Polo, Deaf Sports, Fencing, Kudo, Mallakhamb, Motorsports, Net Ball, Para Sports (disciplines included in Paralympics and Para Asian Games), Pencak Silat, Roll Ball, Rugby, Sepak Takraw, Soft Tennis, Shooting Ball, Tenpin Bowling, Triathlon, Tug-of-war and Wushu.