She was among four new representatives appointed to the 20-strong body in October, although they are not full members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Argentinian basketball star Luis Scola, Egyptian modern pentathlete Aya Medany and Jordan taekwondo ace Nadin Dawani were also selected.

Nehwal, who along with Scola missed their first possible meeting with the Commission last month as she prepared for Superseries tournaments in China and Hong Kong, admits it will be difficult to balance her role with her busy competition schedule.

“It is a real honour to be part of the IOC Athletes Commission, it is something I never thought of [happening],” she told insidethegames.

“It is a huge responsibility for me being a player to come up with a lot more discussions on how to improve, it is a difficult job they have given me and I am learning it.

“I am taking on a lot of advice from former Olympians who are there and let us see how it goes.

“Playing so many tournaments as well, it is very hectic and not easy to know everything going on in other sports.

“I will try to manage as much as possible.”

Nehwal admitted she would also need to spend time learning about other sports, in addition to the recently published 144-page report by Richard McLaren on Russian doping, as she adjusts to her role.

The London 2012 bronze medallist is not competing here this week at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Dubai World Superseries Finals, having missed out on being one of the eight qualifiers for the women’s singles event.

She is instead in Dubai to promote the BWF’s "Shuttle Time" initiative, the governing body’s schools development programme.

First piloted in Tonga in late 2011, "Shuttle Time" has been embraced by BWF member associations as the primary means of growing the sport among schoolchildren.

It is said to allow teachers and tutors to develop the skills, knowledge and confidence to introduce badminton in a safe, fun and inclusive manner.

Nehwal has been taking part in a bid to help the growth of the sport in Dubai, with shuttle time also working closely with coaches to boost their skills.

She believes the programme is important to developing the sport in developing badminton nations and believes having major tournaments such as the Dubai World Superseries Finals can help grow participation in new regions.

“Badminton is not such a big sport in Dubai and to make it big, we should have these kinds of initiatives,” said the Indian star, who was today announced as one of five "i am badminton" integrity ambassadors.

“Dubai is doing their best as I came here last year for the promotion of the sport and saw many kids playing shuttletime and participating in competition.

“We need some more good quality coaches, trainers and physios in Dubai, that will only help the players to come up.

“That is the issue for badminton in countries where the sport is not so popular across the world.

“It helps a lot having one of the best tournaments happening here, year by year the kids will have more interest and feel like playing.”