 bill no  284  of  2015 the compulsory physical fitness of children through sports in schools and development of sports infrastructure bill, 2015 byshrimati ranjeet ranjan, mp a billto promote sports education and physical fitness for an all-round development of children in the country and to develop international standard sports infrastructure in the country, by making sports a compulsory regular subject in schools and providing equal opportunity and incentives to sportspersons across the country and for matters connected therewith or incidental theretowhereas the memorandum of understanding between india and netherlands signed in new delhi on the thirtieth day of january, 2014 recognises that india aims to create a lasting legacy with the development of sports infrastructure for promoting sports, education and allied areas along with india's ambition to host global sports events in the future:and whereas the united nations, in its resolution 58/6 adopted by the general assembly and sponsored by india, on the third day of november, 2003, recognises sport as means to build a peaceful and better world and increased implementation of projects for development through sport:and whereas the united nations in its resolution 58/5 adopted by the general assembly on the third day of november, 2003 recognises sport as a means to promote education, health, development and peace:and whereas it is considered necessary to give effect to the said resolutionbe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-sixth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the compulsory physical fitness of children through sports in schools and development of sports infrastructure act, 2015short title, extent and commencement(2) it extends to the whole of india5(3) it shall come into force on such date, as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, appoint, and different dates may be appointed for coming into force of different provisions of this act, and any reference in any such provision to the commencement of this act shall be construed as a reference to the coming into force of that provisiondefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—10(a) "appropriate government" means in the case of a state, the government of the state, and in all other cases, the central government;(b) "coach" includes any trained person involved with development of skills of an athlete for the sport;15(c) "notification" means a notification published in the official gazette and the expression "notify" shall be construed accordingly;(d) "physical fitness" means optimal state of physical, mental health and wellbeing to be able to cope with daily needs and the ability to perform ones daily tasks efficiently; and(e) "sports" means the sports specified in the schedule203 (1) from such date, as the central government may, in consultation with the state governments, by  notification specify, training in sports and physical fitness shall be imparted as a compulsory subject in all schoolssports and physical fitness as a regular subject in schools(2) the appropriate government shall take such measures as may be necessary to develop infrastructure of international standard for over-all development of student25(3) the appropriate government shall provide equal opportunities in sports to all sportspersons, create awareness, reduce stress and develop skill in sports as a whole in the country to achieve excellence in sports at the international arena304 the appropriate government shall ensure capacity and awareness building programmes in sports through physical education that may include orientation on national cadets, scouts and guides, sports training and competitive sports along with demonstrations or workshops to guide students and help in building awareness about sportsmandatory capacity and awareness building programmes5 the appropriate government shall issue guidelines to be followed by each school to,—guidelines to be followed by schools35(a) treat sports as a regular subject as a part of the curriculum in school, with separate theory and practical training for the students' mental well-being and physical fitness;(b) make evaluation of the subject through continuous grading and examinations so that the subject has equal weightage as other academic subjects;(c) mandatorily include the result of the subject as part of the regular mark-sheet obtained by the students in school;(d) mandatorily allocate a minimum number of hours in a month, for the training to be imparted to students from sixth to twelfth standard; and5(e) allow students to choose from various sports with accredited coaches andcoaching facilities:provided that schools may choose to offer separate sports facilities to students, depending on their infrastructure and accessibility to sports infrastructure6 the appropriate government shall ensure that every school makes special provisions for physically challenged students to,—10special provisions for physically challenged students(i) engage them into games and less-physically involving sporting activities like chess and carrom(ii) arrange for special assistance programmes in each school for those physically challenged students who fail in the module or course:15provided that the special assistance programmes for physically challenged students shall be scheduled before or after regular school hours, to support the students to gain insights and strive to bring each student on the same platform as against failing them in the module207 (1) the appropriate government shall take measures to ensure that the necessary sports infrastructure is provided in every schooladequate access to sports infrastructure(2) in case any school does not possesses sufficient sports infrastructure to facilitate sports training, the appropriate government shall extend facilities to such school by—(i) facilitating free access to sports authority of india infrastructure in the divisional and district sports complex;25(ii) making necessary transport arrangements for students to avail the nearestfacility accompanied by at least one school sports staff personnel in accordance with the strength of students in school(3) every school and respective school board shall maintain a record of students availing sports infrastructure with a view to determine aid, assistance or funds to the respective schools30(4) every divisional or district sports office or the place where the schools are availing the facilities shall maintain a record for consideration by the appropriate government while granting funds for the upgradation of the divisional or districts sports infrastructure facilities35selection procedure for international and national sporting events8 the appropriate government shall regulate the selection of sportspersons for international and national events by selecting who qualify the standard selection criteria, in relation to international parameters and norms as benchmark provided that the appropriate government may authorise the sports authority of india for regulating the selection under this section409 the appropriate government shall take necessary measures to spread awareness about sports education, including the right use of sports medicines, regulations on antidoping and other malpractices along with incentivising and promoting sports as a serious professionpromoting sports as a profession and creating awareness about antidoping regulation10 (1) the appropriate government, by notification, shall mandate that any new infrastructure to be built in the country to be in accordance with international norms and guidelines as set by the international olympic committee for the development of sports infrastructure by,—development of sports in frastructure according to international parameters5(a) building both soft and hard infrastructure by taking international standardsas benchmarks for the purpose of easing the accessibility to infrastructure for sports and games by sportspersons;(b) commissioning sports infrastructure in divisional, state and national level,in rural and urban parts of the country; and10(c) commissioning the construction of separate infrastructural facilities forboth men and women in each sporting facility, like toilets and changing rooms etc(2) the appropriate government shall ensure to provide at least minimum basic sports infrastructural facilities at the grassroots level, like in villages and small towns to encourage sportspersons15(3) the appropriate government shall invest in the scaling up of the quality of infrastructure at major towns and regional centres20incentives to and promotion of sports persons11 the appropriate government shall frame guidelines to promote talent and give incentives to students and sportspersons who represent the country and bring laurels at the national and international level, by— (a) rescheduling of examinations, compensation of attendance and granting credits or by providing equitable credit system where in extra credits and grades shall be given to ensure that the students  do not lose out or refrain from taking up sports at an extra-meritorious level; and (b) providing job opportunities, preference for government loans, concession on travel fares and minimum financial benefits25public sector undertakings to promote and support sports persons12 (1) the appropriate government, shall ensure that government owned or public sector undertaking companies take responsibility for supporting talent and promising sportspersons who have achieved state, national and international accolades by mandating a quota for employment and funding expenses for meeting sports expenditure in the requirement of equipments and medial aid for sportspersons;30(2) all such government or psu companies as mentioned in clause (2) shall provide sports by allowing, not just their employees and sportspersons, but even the general public and schools to avail their sports infrastructural facilitiespenalty13 the appropriate government shall curtail grants and aids to a school if that schoolfails to comply with any of the provisions of this act3514 the central government, shall from time to time provide, after due appropriationmade by the parliament by law in this behalf, requisite funds for carrying out the purposes of this actcentral government to provide fundspower to remove difficulty4015 if any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this act, the centralgovernment, in consultation with state governments, may make such order or give such direction, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, as appears to it to be necessary or expedient for the removal of any difficulty:provided that no such order shall be made after the expiry of two years from the dateof commencement of this actpower to make rules16 (1) the central government, in consultation with the state governments, may bynotification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act45(2) every rule made under this act shall be laid as soon as may be after it is made,before each house of parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid,both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both the houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rulethe schedule[ see section 2 (c) ]|      sl no | name of sport                          ||--------------|----------------------------------------||            1 | aero sports                            ||            2 | archery                                ||            3 | athletics                              ||            4 | atya patya                             ||            5 | aquatics                               ||            6 | badminton                              ||            7 | ball badminton                         ||            8 | baseball                               ||            9 | basketball                             ||           10 | billiards and snooker                  ||           11 | bridge                                 ||           12 | body building                          ||           13 | boxing                                 ||           14 | carrom                                 ||           15 | chess                                  ||           16 | cricket                                ||           17 | cycling                                ||           18 | cycle polo                             ||           19 | equestrian                             ||           20 | fencing                                ||           21 | football                               ||           22 | golf                                   ||           23 | gymnastics                             ||           24 | handball                               ||           25 | hockey                                 ||           26 | ice hockey                             ||           27 | judo                                   ||           28 | kabaddi                                ||           29 | karate do                              ||           30 | kho-kho                                ||           31 | motor sports                           ||           32 | netball                                ||           33 | polo                                   ||           34 | power-lifting                          ||           35 | rowing                                 ||           36 | roller skating                         ||           37 | rugby                                  ||           38 | shooting                               ||           39 | shooting ball                          ||           40 | soft ball                              ||           41 | soft tennis ball                       ||           42 | special olympic sports                 ||           43 | sports for deaf persons                ||           44 | table tennis                           ||           45 | tennis                                 ||           46 | tennis ball cricket                    ||           47 | throw ball                             ||           48 | tug of war                             ||           49 | volleyball                             ||           50 | weightlifting                          ||           51 | winter games (skiing and snowboarding) ||           52 | wrestling (free style and greco roman) ||           53 | wrestling (indian style)               | statement of objects and reasonsindia is home to a billion plus population however, our dismal performance at international sports like the olympics, asian games and the common wealth games make it evident that there is an absence of thrust in sports in the country clearly, our culture and attitude towards sports is a major deterrent towards improving sporting standards in our country promoting sportspersons while providing equal opportunity, incentives and access to sporting  facilities is essential, however, changing the attitude  of people and bringing seriousness about sports education and training in physical fitness is of utmost importance moreover, sporting activities are means of a holistic development for all, a potential tool for the physical and mental well-being of people by inculcating values of leadership, teamwork, endurance, and focus along with bringing exposure, helping in skill development and increasing immunity towards various illnesses that in turn would increase the productivity of people and hence boost economic development throughout the countrythe united nations recognises sport as a low-cost and high-impact tool in humanitarian development and peace-building efforts, the standard of which is  increasingly being recognised in india the prevalent scenario does not provide for students and sportspersons to excel in the arena of sports, leave alone emphasizing the importance of sports in physical fitness many schools across the country barely recognise the necessity of including sports in their schedule the education system need to be revamped to give sports an equal importance in the holistic upbringing  of future flag-bearers of the countrythe lack of infrastructural facilities and training of international standards are major impediments in the process of development of sports in india moreover, considering sports as a serious carrier option comes at the cost of education and job opportunities, falling attendance, grades and the struggle to earn a livelihood added to that is the cost and struggle to avail sporting facilities in various parts of the countrythis  shouldn't be used in excuse and deter the government to wash their hands off the responsibility of providing for sporting facility, from the grassroots level, in villages and small towns to upgrade the quality of infrastrucuture at major towns and regional centresthis bill intends to give sports education and physical fitness a status at par with other academic subjects taught at schools and hence makes sports education a compulsory module in all schools across the country, the evaluation of which would be through continuous grading and examinations as is the case with other subjects moreover, the bill lays guidelines for schools to arrange for special assistance programs for those who fair poorly in the evaluation of the sports module to monitor their progress and physical fitness the bill seeks to make guidelines for the building of such infrastructure to meet the benchmark of international parameters this is a step towards promoting a culture of sports and making the facility easily accessible to all sportspersonsalso, the bill seek to give incentives to those who excel in any field of sport by providing concessions an financial benefits, along with mandating all public sector undertakings and enterprises to provide compulsory quota for employment of sportspersons and make available their sporting infrastructure to all willing sportspersons in the country, as part of their social responsibility creating awareness about sports and physical fitness is imperative to empower sportspersons and students alike for their overall development, in order to harness the talent and potential of the youth and bring international acclaim to indiahence this billnew delhi;ranjeet ranjannovember 17, 2015 financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides sports and physical fitness education as a compulsory and regular subject in schools clause 4 mandates capacity and awareness building programmes clause 6 allows for special provisions for physically challenged students to participate in sports clause 7 provides that appropriate government shall ensure availability of necessary sports infrastructure in every school clause 10 lays down guidelines to be adhered to while commissioning sports infrastructure in the country to meet international standard clause 14 makes it obligatory for the central government to provide requisite funds for carrying out the purposes of this bill the bill does involve expenditure towards building of infrastructure of international standards whenever it commissions the building of any such infrastructure after the enactment of the act for union territory the bill will also involve expenditure towards infrastructural facilities and awareness programmesthe bill, therefore, if enacted, will involve expenditure which cannot be estimated right now from the consolidated fund of india memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 16 of the bill gives power to the central government, in consultation with the state governments, to make necessary rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill as the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is, therefore, of a normal character———— a billto promote sports education and physical fitness for an all-round development of childrenin the country and to develop international standard sports infrastructure in the country,by making sports a compulsory regular subject in schools and providing equalopportunity and incentives to sportspersons across the country and formatters connected therewith or incidental thereto————(shrimati ranjeet ranjan, mp)gmgipmrnd—2919ls(s3)—03122015