When Gill and Gill crossed paths, hockey sticks

In more than one way, Gill seemed qualified: he has been an avid mountaineer, a self-proclaimed sports enthusiast8212;he watches cricket whenever he gets time he was a left-arm spinner in his college days8212;and, most importantly, he led the Indian contingent to the Mexico Olympics in 1968.

Gill was president of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation for six years between 1993 and 1999. He learnt mountaineering from the man who conquered the Everest 55 years ago, Tenzing Norgay, and climbed to a height of 20,000 ft.

Gill is also passionate about something which most of today8217;s generation dread to talk about. His expertise in agriculture is equally praiseworthy and has to his credit several books on the subject. His book, An Indian Success Story: Agriculture and Cooperatives in Punjab, has won countrywide acclaim, besides landing him a World Bank project on agriculture and infrastructure in Nigeria between 1981 and 1984.

A Padma Vibhushan awardee, Gill began his career as a deputy commissioner in Lahul and Spiti, Himachal, and rose to become a top bureaucrat8212;he was secretary in the Agriculture Ministry besides serving the Petrochemicals and Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals at the Centre.

Gill became the Chief Election Commissioner in 1992 when the government decided to expand the one-man panel, then headed by T.N. Seshan, to a three-member body. As CEC, he has the distinction of supervising and conducting the 1998 and 1999 general elections.

Soon after taking over as sports minister, Gill said he would not touch the controversial sports policy that distanced his predecessor Mani Shankar Aiyar from the Indian Olympic Association. In fact, he says the only sports policy he believed in was one that got India some medals. More recently, he made the headlines for asking IHF chief KPS Gill to quit and make way for young people to take over and run the game.

As of now, Gill says his priority is to make sure the qualified athletes get maximum exposure in the run up to the Games.

Gill the administrator

K.P.S. Gill begun his career in the Indian Police Service with the Assam cadre and made his name in the 8216;80s and 8216;90s as the supercop who finished off terrorism in Punjab. He was often accused of ruling the force with a heavy hand, but he shrugged off the charges.

The criticism is back to haunt him, this time as the president of Indian Hockey Federation. When he took over in 1994, he was the unanimous choice, with everyone hoping that things would perhaps finally change for the better. And they were not wrong, at least initially.

In his initial years, Gill ensured that the Indian team got the best possible facilities. Gill was the first IHF president to begin the process of giving cash awards for winning teams. And for players unaccustomed to being actually treated with respect, this was unimaginable. Ironically, Gill now feels that giving cash rewards is akin to 8220;paying bribe8221; and that the players should perform 8220;for pride8221;.

The players8217; good run didn8217;t last long. Soon, they were back to being shacked up in the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium dormitories, cash awards became a rare trickle and for the administrators who elected Gill, IHF became a two-man organisation, with Gill and his handpicked secretary K. Jothikumaran from Tamil Nadu running the show.

It8217;s been that way since then. For the past decade, it is said that Gill used his larger-than-life persona to get away with everything, browbeat the media and the players, and cut opposition to size.

The fact that being the IHF presidency was only incidental8212;the perception is that Gill remains, first and foremost, a policeman and this came to his rescue time and again. Those who tried opposing him were soon overawed by the Supercop image.

The voice of dissent has grown stronger in the past couple of years, only because the man who took on Gill happens to be no lightweight himself. Narinder Batra, a millionaire businessman who also happens to be a cricket administrator, threw the gauntlet in 2005. But it is a testimony to the extent of Gill8217;s control on the IHF that, while there are many who support him covertly, not many are vocal about it.

With this latest scandal8212;Jothikumaran was caught on camera accepting money to give a player place in the team8212;Gill is, for the first time in his tenure, on the defensive. But, for the supercop who successfully fought terrorism against all claims of human rights violations, this may just be the beginning of another battle.