Refusing to get drawn into questions regarding the propriety of a former Constitutional functionary accepting a ministerial berth, new Sports Minister M S Gill on Tuesday said he would respond to such accusations at an appropriate time.

Gill, a former chief election commissioner, was talking to reporters after taking charge as Minister of State (independent charge) in the Sports Ministry.

Gill’s induction as a Minister has been objected to by Opposition parties on the grounds that by offering a ministerial berth to a former Constitutional functionary, the UPA had set a wrong precedent.

“I have come to know of such objections. I have also read a few reports in this regard. All that I can say at this moment is that I will respond to this issue at an appropriate time. I must respond,” Gill, who replaced Mani Shanker Aiyar, said.

“The decision to offer me a ministerial berth was not taken by me. But the decision to accept it is mine. And I have done so with full responsibility,” he said. An avid follower of sports, Gill said his priority would be to ensure that there is an equal opportunity for every discipline to flourish and develop.

On the question of India not qualifying for the hockey event in the Beijing Olympics, he said it was unfortunate, but such disappointments were not new in sports.

“Such things will happen in sports. I remember a similar disappointment had happened in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico where our hockey team had finished sixth for the first time. Sports is like that,” he said.

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