Sports Ministry doubles the pension amount for medal winners at mega events

The Sports Ministry of India has increased the amount of pension of an Olympic medallist to Rs. 20000 which was previously half of it. The decision was taken by the authority after a revision of its pension policy. Not only that, a medal winner in the Paralympics will also be awarded the same amount. The Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports and a former Olympic medallist Rajyavardhan Rathod approved the upward revision of the pension to star performers at mega events. "The rate of pension of medal winners in the Para-Olympics Games and Para Asian Games will be at par with the medal winners in the Olympic Games and Asian Games respectively and only a World Championships held once in four years will be considered for pension," stated a press release. A revised rate was made for winners of several other major tournaments also. According to the reports, a Gold medallist in a World Cup or the Asian Games will get a pension of Rs. 16000; a Silver medal winner will be entitled to Rs.14000 while Rs. 12000 will be allocated for Bronze medal winners. Previously, Gold medallists at World Championships or Asian Games were being paid Rs. 8000 while the Silver and Bronze medallists used to get an amount of Rs. 7000 per month. In case of existing pensioners, the revised rate will be effective from April 1, 2018. In order to be eligible for the pension under the scheme, the athlete must be retired and has to attain an age of 30 years. The undertaking to this effect will be given by the sportsman in the application form. The World Championships are generally held at an interval of four years as well as the Asian Games and the Olympics. The next big event that India would be participating will be the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games which is scheduled to begin on August 18.