New Delhi: Sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday tabled the amended National Anti-Doping Bill in the Lok Sabha with a view to provide greater “operational independence” to the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) as prescribed by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
Among the highlights of the Bill is the retention of the contentious National Board for Anti-Doping in Sports, albeit its powers have been curtailed. The Board will no longer have the NADA appeals panel under its jurisdiction as was the case in the original act passed in 2022. These provisions were flagged by WADA as signs of government interference, leading to a delay in the Act’s implementation.
The Board, in the previous Bill, was empowered to constitute the appeal panel and “oversee the activities” of NADA. That act could not be implemented as WADA objected to “government interference” in NADA’s functioning.
The amended bill seeks to “enhance institutional and operational independence of the National Anti-Doping Appeal Panel and the National Anti-Doping Agency to ensure autonomy in their decisions pertaining to operations, investigations and enforcement activities.”
“The Director General or any other staff member of the Agency shall have operational independence from any National Sports Federation, International Federation, National Olympic Committee, National Paralympic Committee or any Government department or agency with responsibility for sport or anti-doping,” the amended bill states.
{{/usCountry}}“The Director General or any other staff member of the Agency shall have operational independence from any National Sports Federation, International Federation, National Olympic Committee, National Paralympic Committee or any Government department or agency with responsibility for sport or anti-doping,” the amended bill states.
{{/usCountry}}The amendments were imperative to ensure that India does not end up being suspended by WADA that has been keeping a close watch over NADA in recent years.
The introduction of the amended bill comes shortly after India emerged as the top country in terms of total doping tests conducted in 2023 among nations that analysed 5,000 or more samples, according to WADA figures.
In 2023, India’s positivity rate stood at 3.8%, with 214 Adverse Analytical Findings (AAFs) out of 5,606 samples tested. This marked an increase in both sample size and positivity rate compared to 2022, when 3,865 tests yielded a 3.2% positivity rate.