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Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports | National Anti Doping Agency (NADA)
The Government provided a Parliamentary response affirming its commitment to eradicating doping/drug abuse in sports through the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA), detailing significant enhancements to testing capacity and digital governance.
Key Anti-Doping Measures and Capacity Expansion:
Testing Capacity: NADA is expanding its testing volume considerably, with 7,751 dope control tests planned for the current year, marking a consistent increase from 7,474 tests in 2024 and 5,794 in 2023.
Digital Governance: The NADA India Data Administration and Management System (NIDAMS) web portal has been launched. Its objective is to digitalize testing planning, mission order generation, Doping Control Officer (DCO) availability, and improve transparency, accountability, and efficiency in sample collection, in compliance with WADA International standards.
Prevention and Education Focus (HPTCs): NADA concentrates prevention efforts on High-Performance Training Centres (HPTCs) through various initiatives:
Nationwide education programs to sensitize athletes, coaches, and medical staff on doping dangers, supplements, and Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUE).
Active testing across both in-competition and out-of-competition testing, with high-performance athletes included in Registered Testing Pools (RTP) and subject to Whereabouts/ADAMS obligations.
Social media campaigns actively promote the “Know Your Medicine” (KYM) app and ADEL to help athletes identify prohibited substances.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code is the core document that harmonizes anti-doping policies, rules, and regulations across all sport organizations globally. ADAMS (Anti-Doping Administration & Management System) is the WADA online system used by athletes to provide accurate and timely information about their whereabouts, enabling NADA to conduct intelligence-led, out-of-competition testing to ensure clean sport.
Policy Relevance
This strong, data-backed approach to anti-doping is critical for safeguarding the integrity of Indian sports and is directly linked to India’s ambition to become a global sporting power (e.g., hosting the Olympics). The launch of NIDAMS represents a major institutional shift toward digital governance, ensuring NADA’s operations meet the highest international standards of the WADA Code and bolstering the credibility of India’s athletes on the global stage.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders: How will NADA utilize the new NIDAMS digital system to collaborate with law enforcement and regulatory bodies (e.g., FSSAI) to crack down on illegal suppliers of prohibited supplements and drugs?
Follow the full news here: Government Enhances Anti-Doping Efforts; NADA Expands Testing Capacity