Newly-appointed sports minister Rajyavardhan Rathore announced that top athletes preparing for Tokyo Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games will be provided a monthly stipend of Rs 50,000 as their pocket expenses. The stipend will be paid with effect from 1st September, 2017.
“MYAS @IndiaSports announces Rs 50k/month pocket allowance for 152 elite athletes preparing for Tokyo/CWG/Asian Games. Athletes first, always!” Rathore wrote on the official Twitter handle.
The announcement of Rathore meant that the ministry has accepted the recommendation made by the Olympic Task Force Committee, headed by Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra. (https://www.sportsavour.com/prompt-action-olympic-task-force-submits-final-report-ministry/) The 152 athletes selected for Target Olympic Podium (TOP) will get this benefit.
The sports ministry is always in touch with all the athletes selected under the TOP scheme to get training and competition exposure plan and any further assistance required for preparation of the prestigious competitions.
However, veteran tennis player Leander Paes has been kept out from this scheme. Saket Myneni has also been dropped from the list of players to be given the stipend. “This is not the final list. Anyone who performs well can be added in the list later on and who fails to perform can be removed from the list,” a sports ministry official said.
