Haryana’s move to appoint 1983 World Cup winning captain and cricket legend Kapil Dev as the first chancellor of the Haryana sports university at Rai in Sonepat has hit a a stumbling block with the state government deciding to withdraw the Sports University of Haryana Bill passed by the assembly in August 2019 following an objection by the Central government.
The Bill will be withdrawn on Monday when the state assembly will reconvene for the ongoing budget session. The then state sports minister Anil Vij had tweeted on September 14, 2019 that Dev will be first chancellor of the Sports University at Rai. The move however will hang fire with the Bill being withdrawn.
“Since the chief minister has been authorised by the Cabinet to approve the presentation of any legislative business during the assembly session, he has approved the proposal to withdraw the Sports University of Haryana Bill on behalf of the cabinet. The Bill will have to be revisited in view of the Central government’s observations,’’ said an official.
The Bill passed by the state assembly in August 2019 was reserved by the Governor for the consideration of the President. Subsequently, the Union home ministry in December 2019 wrote to the state government citing a Union HRD Ministry office memorandum stating that as per the University Grant Commission (UGC) regulations, the chairperson of UGC will nominate a member of the selection committee for selection of vice-chancellor of state, private and deemed to be universities. “Since no member of the search-cum-selection committee is nominated by the UGC, this criteria for the appointment of vice-chancellor needs to be re-looked. Therefore, on Central government’s advice, it has been decided to re-look the Bill. Accordingly, the state government has decided to withdraw the Sports University of Haryana Bill,’’ said a cabinet note. Principal secretary, sports, Yogender Chaudhary did not respond to phone calls.
As per the Haryana Bill, the search committee shall consist of five persons, of whom three shall be nominated by the executive council and two by the state government, and one of the nominees of the state government shall be the convener of the committee. The search committee shall be headed by an academician of repute which shall include at least two prominent sports personalities.
{{/usCountry}}As per the Haryana Bill, the search committee shall consist of five persons, of whom three shall be nominated by the executive council and two by the state government, and one of the nominees of the state government shall be the convener of the committee. The search committee shall be headed by an academician of repute which shall include at least two prominent sports personalities.
{{/usCountry}}The Sports University is touted as first full-fledged sports university of international standards in Haryana. A void existed in the sports environment in various areas, such as, sports science, sports technology, sports management, high performance training, etc. Therefore, it has been decided to establish the Sports University of Haryana which is expected to fill this void with its exclusive focus on promotion of sports education in the areas of sports sciences, sports technology, sports management, etc and research and training in different areas related to sports, says the Bill.