New Delhi | Sports minister Anurag Thakur on Thursday announced that the government will issue digital certificates to registered athletes across the country, a move which would ensure a transparent account of their participation and performance.

The digital certificate will have dates of the athletes' participation in competitions and serve as proof of their achievements.

"With athletes at the heart of our progressing and growing sporting ecosystem, the sports ministry has made a crucial decision to promote the 'issuance of digital certificates to athletes'," wrote Thakur 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 the occasion, the NSF portal was launched for ensuring ease of business and good governance.

It is a unified single window for processing annual renewals and elections in NSFs.

On Thursday, the minister said, "Keeping up with our policy of 'athlete-first', National Sports Federations (NSFs) have been advocated to issue certificates to athletes via DigiLocker, an initiative of Ministry of Electronics and IT." He said the digital certificates will add a new aspect to sports administration and management of sportspersons.

"This decision has been taken to ensure the accessibility, security and veracity of documents and promote transparency and efficiency in the sports administration of the NSFs. This will further lead to ease of living for our sportspersons across the nation.

"I request all the concerned NSFs to embrace the technological advancements and assure them of the full support needed for a smooth and timely transition," he added.