ISLAMABAD   -  The National Assembly Standing Committee on Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC), underlining the need for a coherent strategy in the field of sports, directed the Ministry of IPC and Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) to revisit policy and structure of funds allocation for promotion of sports in the country.

The 23rd meeting of the committee was held under the chairmanship of MNA Nawab Sher. The President, Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP), apprised the committee that federation acquired the rights to organize athletics in Pakistan from the International Association of Athletics Federation (World Athletics) in 1951. The mission of AFP is to promote and develop the sport of athletics in Pakistan in accordance with the World Athletics rules.

The objectives of the federation are to promote, develop, and be the sole governing body for the sport of Athletics in the country. The AFP President requested the ministry for allocation of necessary funds to further strengthen the federation. The committee directed the Ministry of IPC and Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) to revisit the policy and structure of funds allocation for promotion of sports in the country.

The committee considered “The Prevention of Offences in Sports Bill, 2020”, moved by MNA Iqbal Muhammad Ali Khan. The committee, in its previous meeting, directed the Ministry of Interior to furnish their views regarding addition of a new Chapter “XXIV” to the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860 as advised/opined by the Law Division. Later, the committee also deferred the agenda of budgetary proposals relating to Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) of the Ministry of IPC and its attached departments for next Financial Year 2022-23. The committee decided to discuss the PSDP budgetary proposals of the ministry in its next meeting which will be held shortly.

The meeting was attended by Mehboob Shah, Gul Dad Khan, Gul Zafar Khan, Haji Imtiaz Ahmed Chaudhary, Robina Jamil, Shaheen Naz Saifullah, Sheda Nosheen Iftikhar, Ch Zulfiqar Ali Bhinder, Rana Mubashir Iqbal, Muhammad Afzal Khokhar, Rasheed Ahmad Khan, Zulfiqar Ali Behan, Shahida Rehmani, Nasiba Channa and Syed Faizul Hassan, MNAs, besides senior officers from M/o IPC, M/o Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, M/o Law and Justice, Athletics Federation of Pakistan, Pakistan Hockey Federation and the representative from the Department of Tourist Services.