Sports Ministry comes to ailing football commentator Novy Kapadia's aid

Ailing football commentator and historian Novy Kapadia on Monday received a grant of Rs 4 lakh from the sports ministry to cover his medical expenses after the Delhi University failed to clear his pension fund even after four decades of service.

"Novy Kapadia has contributed to Indian sports for decades. When I got to know that his pension from Delhi University is pending and he is suffering from a rare auto-immune disease and needs urgent medical attention, we decided to give him immediate relief with this money," sports minister Kiren Rijiju said.

https://twitter.com/KirenRijiju/status/1239483961308360704

"We are also following up with the Ministry of Human Resource Development to ensure that his pension comes through soon," the minister further added. Kapadia has been sanctioned the financial assistance from the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay National Welfare Fund for Sportspersons.

"The earlier guidelines of the fund to provide financial assistance were rather restrictive. We have now made amendments so that assistance can be extended to more people who have served in the area of sport. Kapadia is one of the first beneficiaries of the new guidelines," added the sports minister.