Government sanctions Rs 7.87 crore for Khelo India athletes

The Sports Ministry has sanctioned a sum of Rs 7.87 crore as an out-of-pocket allowance for athletes training in 99 Khelo India academies and other centres across the country. About 2,625 athletes were chosen to train in various sporting disciplines under the Khelo India Talent Development Scheme, a grassroots-level talent identification on the part of the government.

Around 1,312 of the 2,625 athletes are training in various Khelo India academies. Apart from the out-of-pocket allowance, the identified sports talent under the Khelo India scheme is given full support in terms of coaching, injury prevention, diet, lodging, and education. The sanction, to be paid to each athlete as Rs 10,000 per month, will be in effect from the month of October till December this year.

Each athlete in the academy will be credited with an annual scholarship of Rs 5 lakh, out of which 1 lakh 20 thousand will be liable to direct transfer to the athlete’s bank account as an out-of-pocket allowance, the Ministry said in a statement. Deemed as a major boost to an athlete’s growth, the Khelo India scheme will act as a feeder to other elite schemes of the government, including the Target Olympics Podium Scheme (TOPS). 

Initially, with Khelo India, a few athletes have later been inducted into the core group or developmental group of TOPS, including weightlifter Jeremy Lalrinnunga, shooter Saurabh Chaudhary, and swimmer Srihari Nataraj.