BENGALURU: Inclusiveness and accessibility were the two dominant words during a brief exclusive interaction with new National Anti-Doping Agency director general Ritu Sain on Monday. It’s been less than a month since she took charge as an independent top official, but the NADA DG has charted a vision for reaching out to more and more stakeholders in the ecosystem, while at the same time bringing in transparency and accountability. She would like to usher in new technology to get closer to the athletes and engage with them in their language.
The Khelo India University Games underway in Bengaluru has presented Sain with an opportunity to understand issues relating to athletes and other stakeholders and she is making the most of it. The NADA is engaging with more than 3000 athletes from 209 universities through apps and various interactive methods.
Despite numerous interactions in the Jain University campus and other venues in and around Bengaluru, she found time off her hectic schedule to speak with The New Indian Express about her vision and why she felt inclusiveness, accessibility, outreach and accountability would be some of the areas she would like to stress upon. After all, it's all about bringing in a positive change.
“My vision is to reach out to all relevant stakeholders in the ecosystem with a clear awareness programme,” she said. “Testing is an important deliverable. But we want to be fair and leverage technology to embrace transparency and accountability. We need to reach out to where a discourse of interaction begins in schools and institutions.”
The NADA chief emphasised on an enriching education programme and making it accessible to all. She also felt all education material would be designed as per the requirement of athletes and in a language they understand. “For hearing impaired athletes we would provide them in sign language and for visually impaired it would be in audio files,” she said. “It’s about extending relationships.”
“It is important that we keep pace with the current generation of athletes by speaking to them in a simpler manner that they understand,” she said. “Therefore you will see mobile kiosks with electronic displays to run the ‘I for Integrity’ campaign, pledge walls at venues and mobile games for athletes.”
The agency’s website that is being updated sporadically is expected to get a massive overhaul very soon. Certain areas have not been updated for months but according to the NADA chief whatever should be announced or revealed would be there online at the earliest once the old website is updated.