Indian Olympic Association President, legendary sprinter P. T. Usha made the National Sports Governance Bill her own by giving it her unconditional endorsement in a Rajya Sabha speech on August 12, 2025, calling it the overdue reformation needed to stem years of stagnating status quo in sports governance in India.
Once a critic, now an admirer
Usha once had been a third party critic on such record breaking highlights over government interference but said she backed down since she had discussed this with sport minister Mansukh Mandaviya in a detailed way, fearing Olympic sanctions, in case of excess. Nowadays, she describes this Bill as being visionary and long overdue and a moral promise of which sportsmen never would be failed by blind systems anymore.
With the provisions of the Bill that is already been passed through Lok Sabha and has now received sanction by the Rajya Sabha, the issue of overall sports governance reform is being instituted. It requires that a National Sports Board (NSB) is created to supervise the recognition and financing of sports federations and a national sports tribunal is established to adjudicate between disputing parties decisively and efficiently. Also, it is based on the suggested institution of a National Sports Election Panel that would oversee the election processes in these federations, in a transparent manner.
Why is the bill important for 2036 Olympics?
Usha commended the Bill because it focused on transparency, accountability, gender parity, and the possible aid it would offer to make India a suitable country to host the Olympics games in 2036. She has positioned herself as a national and a very personal historic moment: as a person running barefooted on clay fields, she describes this law as being meaningful, whether symbolically or practically.
It is also opportune and on the same day, the Parliament also enacted the National Anti Doping (Amendment) Bill indicating a concurrent drive towards clean sport in India. These (and other) steps are thought to portend a possibly earthquake like change in the direction of Indian sports governance towards being on par with the rest of the world.
Having her background as a source of integration of dazzling sporting prowess and the power behind the throne, Usha champions the Bill by imbuing it with new and justified legitimacy and strength. These reforms are still under presidential consideration, and hence provide new ray of light to an egalitarian, empowered and athlete centered sporting future in India.
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