Context

The Indian Olympic Association constituted an 11-member committee led by Athletics Federation of India president Adille Sumariwala to monitor annual grant and affiliation fee of its members for the 2020-2021 cycle.

About

What is Indian Olympic Association?

• The Indian Olympic Association is the governing body for the Olympic Movement and the Commonwealth Games in India.
• As an affiliated member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), the IOA administers various aspects of sports governance and athletes’ welfare in the country.
• In this regard, the IOA oversees the representation of athletes or teams participating in the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and other international multi-sport competitions of IOC, CGF, OCA and ANOC.
• The Indian Olympic Association is recognised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

Foundation:           

• The IOA was established in the year 1927 with Sir Dorabji Tata and Dr. A.G. Noehren as the Founding President and Secretary General respectively.
• It is registered as a Non-Profit Organisation under the Societies Registration Act of 1860.
• As member of the IOC and OCA, it is the Indian Olympic Association’s primary mission to develop, promote and protect the Olympic Movement in the country.
• Beyond the participation in the Games, the IOA has also established various initiatives with different stakeholders for the development of sports education and Olympic studies.

How IOA is governed?

• The Indian Olympic Association is currently governed by a 32-member Executive Council, headed by President, Dr. Narinder Dhruv Batra.
• The election for the Executive Council is held once in every 4 years. The last election of the IOA was held on 14th December 2017.
• The working of the Executive Council is also assisted by different Standing Committees of the IOA that are constituted with experts in the subject-field to help in various aspects of governance.
• Together with the Executive Council Members, Standing Committees and the Office, the IOA administers Olympic movement in India.

The Committee:

• Besides Sumariwala, the panel includes D R Saini, Vagish Pathak, S M Hashmi, Sekhar Chandra Biswas, Vithal Shrigaonkar, M P Singh, D V Seetharama Rao, Abu Mehta, Madhukant Pathak and B K Roka.
• The committee will review and monitor issues concerning the disbursement of IOA’s annual grant to its members in coordination with the finance department.