TOP athletes to get monthly stipend of Rs 50,000
September 16, 2017
NEW DELHI: The ministry of sports and youth affairs has decided to pay a monthly stipend of Rs 50,000 to each elite athlete preparing for the coming Commonwealth and Asian Games as well as Tokyo Olympics. The amount would be used by the athletes for their out of pocket expenses, sports minister Rajyavardhan Rathore announced on Friday.
Rathore’s announcement meant that the sports ministry has accepted the recommendation of the Olympic Task Force, that submitted its recommendations to the government on August 11. The extensive report has a slew of path-breaking recommendations to improve India’s performance in Olympics.
And given that an Olympic medal winner, Rathore, is himself now the sports minister, there is greater hope that the key recommendations would be accepted and implemented in letter and in spirit.
The government has selected 152 elite athletes under the Target Olympic Podium scheme. All the athletes will get benefit from this decision. The stipend will be paid with effect from September 1.
“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 allowance applies wef 1 Sep 2017 & is purely for pocket expenses of elite athletes. Committed to providing all resources to our champions.”
Other than this stipend, Rathore has also directed the ministry that it should get in touch with all athletes selected under the TOP scheme and ensure their training and competition exposure plan is readied professionally. The athletes will also be given any further assistance required for their preparation.
