1191 posts lying vacant in SAI, says ministry

new delhi: Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday acknowledged that over 1,000 posts are currently lying vacant in the Sports Authority of India (SAI), a concern that was highlighted in a recent Parliamentary Standing Committee report which had described the body as “critically” under-funded and under-staffed.

The minister was responding to a question from Congress MP Adoor Prakash, who represents Kerala’s Attingal constituency, in Lok Sabha.

Asked whether the government has noted the concerns raised by the Parliamentary Standing Committee over severe shortage of funds and staff in SAI, Mandaviya said, “The Government has taken note of the observations...”

“A total of 1,191 posts are lying vacant in the SAI. The recruitment process of certain posts has already been initiated,” he added. In its report in August, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on sports, headed by Congress’ Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh, observed that about 45 per cent of sanctioned posts in the SAI are presently vacant. “The fact that these shortfalls in staff are being managed through contractual appointment may at best be only an ad hoc arrangement,” it had said. agencies