The government of India will issue digital certificates to registered athletes, says Sports Minister Anurag Thakur
The digital certificates help keep track of an athlete’s data in a transparent manner.
New Delhi: In a bid to ensure transparent reporting of athletes’ performance and participation, the Government of India will issue digital certificates to the registered athletes, Union Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur announced. Besides the basic details of the athletes, the digital certificates will contain the dates of participation in tournaments/competitions, which will serve as a record book of their achievements.
Earlier, the ministry had directed all National Sports Federations (NSFs) to release only merit and participation certificates through the DigiLocker. “With athletes at the heart of our progressive and growing sports ecosystem, the Sports Ministry has taken a crucial decision to promote ‘issuance of digital certificates to athletes’,” Thakur wrote on ‘X’.
The minister had first announced his plan to simplify things for athletes and National Sports Federations (NSFs) during the National Sports Day on August 29 last year. On Thursday, the minister said: “In line with our ‘athlete first’ policy, NSFs are urged to issue certificates to athletes through DigiLocker, an initiative of the Ministry of Electronics and IT.”
He said the digital certificates will add a new aspect to sports administration and management of athletes. “This decision has been taken to ensure the accessibility, security and veracity of documents and to promote transparency and efficiency in the sports administration of the NSFs. This will further lead to greater ease of living for our athletes across the country.
“From June 1 this year, only certificates issued by the (sports) federations via Digilocker are valid and physical certificates issued will no longer be recognized for government and other benefits. We have advised the federations that their affiliated units should also start issuing the certificates through the DigiLocker from January 1 next year,” said Thakur.
Listing the benefits of issuing sports certificates through DigiLocker, Thakur said it will make access and sharing of certificates easy, eliminate the need for physical copies, provide a secure environment for storing and verifying documents and ensure integrity and guarantee its authenticity.
This, he said, would streamline the certificate issuance process and reduce administrative burden.
“These certificates are a testament to the dedication, efforts and achievements of the athletes in their respective sports, and are currently distributed through outdated and inefficient conventional methods,” he said, adding that NSFs must adopt technology-based tools and solutions to serve the interests of the sport, and especially of the athletes.
With PTI inputs