Draft Policy to be tabled before Cabinet: Aiyar

New Delhi, Dec 21 (UNI) Virtually giving an ultimatum to Indian Olympic Association (IOC), Sports Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar today said the Draft National Sports Policy will not be delayed and if IOA does not come for discussions, it will be tabled before the Cabinet next month.

''We have invited IOA for discussions on Draft National Sports Policy on three occasions but they did not respond to any of those invitations,'' Aiyar said.

Reiterating his stand against big budget multi-sporting events at the cost of broadbasing sports in the country, Aiyar said mega events like Commonwealth Games are important for the country but the government can not neglect sports at the grass root level.

''It is better to spend Rs 6,000 crore in ten years on various sporting activities rather than spending the same amount for a ten-day event of Commonwealth Games.

''In India, the focus is only on mega events because of which the other small tournaments and players get neglected.

''We have to harness talent from among the youth. It's time that we need to promote sports and culture,'' he said.

Aiyar added that the Sports Policy has been drafted after consulting a lot of sportspersons and feedbacks in their official website.

UNI