Govt to spend Rs 50 cr yearly on talented athletes

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 20

With an aim to identify talent at the grassroots and transforming them into medal-winning prospects, the Union Government Cabinet today put its stamp of approval on the revamped ‘Khelo India’ scheme to achieve twin goals of “Sports for All and Sports for Excellence”.

Under the scheme, the government will provide an annual scholarship of Rs 5 lakh to 1,000 talented youngsters across various sports disciplines for eight years.

Also, 20 universities across the country would be developed as hubs of sporting excellence, which would enable sportspersons to pursue education along with sports. 

The Cabinet has also approved a budget of Rs 1,756 crore for the scheme for 2017-2020. In the union budget for 2017-18, the government had set aside an amount of Rs 350 crore for ‘Khelo India’ project. “Earlier, the effort was to create infrastructure. But now, the effort would be to ensure all-round development of an athlete through Khelo India,” Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said.

Rathore also spoke about “training the trainers” aspect of the scheme, where the efforts would be directed to upgrade and educate coaches at the community level. “We need to look beyond the SAI and international coaches. We require the best in coaching. Good is not good enough,” he said.