Ranchi, June 7: Fed up with “big brother” state government for interfering in their affairs, sports associations in Jharkhand are seriously thinking of going corporate by registering themselves under the Companies Act.

As of now, associations are bound by the Societies Registration Act, 1860 since all are heavily dependent on the state government for funds. “Now, we want to preserve the autonomy of various sports bodies and the Companies Act is the first step in that direction,” said Jharkhand Olympic Association (JOA) secretary general S.M. Hashmi.

Sports associations in Jharkhand have always shared an uneasy relationship with the state government which, they alleged, tended to bully them as it controlled the funds flow.

Now, with the 34th National Games scheduled to be held in the state between December 1 and 13, the JOA was locked in a confrontation with the Madhu Koda government over the inordinate delay in constructing necessary infrastructure for the event.

So much so, when sports minister Bandhu Tirkey announced the date for the Games on May 25, he did not bother consulting the JOA. This prompted its president and working chairman of the National Games Organising Committee R.K. Anand to publicly announce that the JOA would not be party to any outsourcing agreements that the government may sign — catering, transportation etc — since the Games were fated to be postponed.

It was in this background the move to corporatise affairs of sports associations had gathered momentum in the state after the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) asked their state counterparts and affiliated sports associations to register under the Companies Act.

The IOA arrived at the decision after it disapproved of the way the Haryana government stepped in to sort out a controversy within the Haryana Olympic Association that was split between two groups — one led by Abhey Chautala and the other by Navin Jindal.

At its recent annual general meeting, the Jharkhand Volleyball Association (JVA) formed a five-man committee to study the implications of registering under the Companies Act, said JVA secretary Shekhar Bose.

The primary idea was to prevent the state government from interfering in the affairs of sports associations. For instance, as per the Societies Registration Act, 1860, the state government was empowered to send observers to oversee association elections.

As of now, state sports associations were resigned to their fate as funds for holding training camps, buying equipment etc came from the state government.

Jharkhand Olympic Association secretary-general and other sports officials realised that the switchover to the Companies Act would be successful only if the sports associations were able to acquire financial independence in the long term.

But Hashmi was optimistic. The funds flow from the state government, he promised, would continue like before. “Only this time, the funds will come without interference.”