Aiyar out, India gets new sports minister

New Delhi: A few months ago, Mani Shankar Aiyar had told CNN-IBN: "I am neither concerned with nor particularly interested in this post. I am doing my job and if the Prime Minister feels that I should be elsewhere, then I shall do what he asks of me."

Now, his wish has been granted. Aiyar says he can now get back to working on his two favourite projects — Panchayati Raj and the Northeast. In his place steps in a man who knows a thing or two about tough jobs — former chief election commisiioner, MS Gill.

Gill says, "I have played a lot of games in life and in sports. This new one too I shall try to play."

And Aiyar's exit has ensured one man in India's sporting fraternity is smiling — that's Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Chief Suresh Kalmadi who has had a long running fued with Aiyer.

Relations between the Ministry and the country's leading sports body have hit a new low and now the the IOA now wants to start afresh.

"We got the big Commonwealth Games and so there are a lot of steps to be taken there. We have the youth games coming up in Pune just four-five months from now and so there is a lot of work to be done and I am sure that we will get the cooperation from the Ministry of Sports," says Kalmadi.

Gill has a huge task on his hands. With the Olympic Games just a month away, top shooters are without ammunition. The Commonwealth Games are just two years away now and training of athletes hasn't started.

And then there's the National Sports Policy and the question of autonomy of sports federations and accountability.

During his tenure as chief election commissioner, M S Gill earned the reputation of being a no-nonsense man and he will now have to bring all that experience to his new job as the sorry scene of Indian sports is not lost out on anyone, least of all him.

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#M S Gill #sports minister #Mani Shankar Aiyar #cabinet reshuffle