Parliament Question: Initiatives/Schemes for Welfare of Sportspersons

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF YOUTH AFFAIRS AND SPORTS DEPARTMENT OF SPORTS LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION No. 12 TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.07.2025 Initiatives/Schemes for Welfare of Sportspersons *12. Shri Yogender Chandolia: Smt. Kamaljeet Sehrawat: Will the Minister of YOUTH AFFAIRS AND SPORTS be pleased to state: (a) whether any initiative has been taken by the Government to address the challenges faced by the sportspersons, coaches/trainers and strengthen the financial security, training infrastructure and mental wellness support for the sportspersons and if so, the details thereof; (b) the steps taken/being taken by the Government for providing timely disbursal of financial assistance and incentives to the sportspersons under various schemes; (c) the number of sportspersons benefitted from the Welfare and Support Schemes for Sportspersons during the last five years and current year in the country, State/UT-wise, including NCT of Delhi; (d) the manner in which the revised scheme for providing Assistance to the National Sports Federations (NSF) addresses the challenges faced by the athletes and coaches/trainers; (e) the sports disciplines identified by the Government to promote league culture; and(f) the role of the said scheme in promoting long-term goal of becoming a global sporting superpower and hosting the 2036 Olympic Games? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF YOUTH AFFAIRS AND SPORTS (DR. MANSUKH MANDAVIYA) (a) to (f): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House. *****STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (f) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 12 FOR ANSWER ON 21.07.2025 REGARDING “INITIATIVES/SCHEMES FOR WELFARE OF SPORTSPERSONS” ASKED BY SHRI YOGENDER CHANDOLIA AND SMT. KAMALJEET SEHRAWAT, HON’BLE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT (a): Yes, Sir. ‘Sports’ being a State subject the responsibility for providing sports infrastructure and training rests with the State Government. The Central Government supplements the efforts of the State Government. Further, the Government has undertaken a series of measures to address the challenges faced by sportspersons and coaches/trainers, aimed at enhancing their financial security, training infrastructure, and mental wellness support through various schemes/programmes of this Ministry such as:  Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS): Provides comprehensive support to selected sportspersons including monthly Out-of-Pocket Allowance (OPA), access to international training, coaching, physiotherapy, mental conditioning, and equipment.  Khelo India Scheme: Focuses on talent identification, infrastructure development, athlete scholarships, and coaching support at both grassroots and elite levels.  Assistance to National Sports Federations (ANSF): Financial support is provided towards training of athletes which includes all requisite facilities for their preparations including wholesome nutritious diet, food supplements, equipment support, state-of-the-art infrastructure, lodging, travelling facilities, services of reputed Coaches/supporting staff, scientific & medical support, sports kit, etc. besides financial assistance for their training abroad and participation in international competitions in India and abroad.  Scheme of Sports Fund for Pension to Meritorious Sportspersons provides additional financial security to sportspersons post retirement from active sports career in the form of life-time pension ranging from ₹12,000/- to ₹20,000/- per month. The sportspersons, who are retired from an active sports career and won medals inOlympic Games, Paralympic Games, World Cup, World Championships, Asian Games, Para Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, are eligible for life-time pension under the scheme.  Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay National Welfare Program for Sportspersons : Provides financial aid to sportspersons and their families for injury, hardship, equipment, and event participation etc. To provide mental wellness support to sportspersons, sport psychologists and mental trainers are engaged at both national team and individual levels. Presence of a sports psychologist, including High-Performance Analyst (Psychology) or Performance Analyst (Psychology) is ensured at the National Centres of Excellence (NCoE) of SAI. These sports psychologists are responsible for helping the athletes with the mental training pertaining to optimal performance, as well as enabling them to achieve emotional wellbeing also. Further the Government has recently announced Khelo Bharat Niti-2025 which also, inter-alia, has provisions to address the challenges being faced by the sportspersons and the coaches/trainers. (b): The Government has adopted a series of measures to ensure the timely and transparent disbursal of financial assistance and incentives to sportspersons/coaches under various schemes. Key measures among these is the implementation of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mechanism for disbursement and online portals to digitize the process of inviting applications, thus ensuring the timely and efficient disbursement of financial assistance/incentives to beneficiaries. Under this system, financial assistance/support is directly transferred into the bank accounts of the sportspersons/coaches thereby eliminating delays, reduces administrative bottlenecks, and ensures that the benefits reach the intended beneficiaries in a timely and efficient manner. (c): The details are placed at Annexure – I.(d): The amendment to the Scheme of Assistance to National Sports Federations (ANSF), have been notified by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports in May 2025. The key features of the revised norms of ANSF are annexed at Annexure - II. These revisions aim to create a high-performance ecosystem that supports athlete excellence and coach empowerment while ensuring financial and operational transparency across the sports system. (e): Several NSFs and sports organisations are organising professional and semi-professional leagues in a range of disciplines, including Cricket, Football, Rugby, Volleyball, Kho-Kho, and Basketball. These leagues not only help in scouting and grooming emerging talent from grassroots levels but also promote regional representation and encourage private sector participation and sponsorship. (f): The Government, through schemes such as the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) and the Scheme of Assistance to National Sports Federations (ANSF), is working with a long-term vision to establish India as a global sporting superpower and prepare the ecosystem for the 2036 Olympic Games. Key initiatives include: (i) Focused Support to Future Medal Probables under the TOPS Development Group for the 2032 and 2036 Olympics. (ii) The revised ANSF norms mandate that at least 20% of National Sports Federations (NSFs) budgets be allocated to grassroots development. (iii) NSFs are now empowered to hire foreign coaches and experts with enhanced financial limits. Additionally, High Performance Directors (HPDs) are mandated in large NSFs to lead long-term technical planning. (iv) Financial support for hosting international competitions in India has been significantly increased upto Rs.2 crore. (v) Transparent, Decentralized, and Inclusive Development: The revised norms require NSFs to publish transparent selection policies in advance and support the decentralized development of academies across the country. Additionally, provision of diet allowances of ₹10,000/month forathletes during non-camp periods ensures athletes can maintain training standards even at the local level. (vi) Integrated Sports Science and Medical Support: A scientific approach to training is supported with enhanced provisions for periodic medical assessments, injury prevention, and sports science monitoring, laying the groundwork for sustained athlete health and peak performance. *****Annexure-I ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (c) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 12 FOR ANSWER ON 21.07.2025 REGARDING “INITIATIVES/SCHEMES FOR WELFARE OF SPORTSPERSONS” 1. Total number of beneficiaries under Scheme of Sports Fund for Pension to Meritorious Sportspersons. Financial Year S.no. States 2020- 2021- 2022- 2023- 2024- 2025- 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 26 1 Punjab 6 3 2 3 1 2 Madhya 2 Pradesh 3 0 1 0 0 0 3 Tamil Nadu 1 0 0 2 0 0 4 Maharashtra 5 3 3 3 1 2 5 Odisha 1 0 0 2 2 1 6 Assam 2 0 0 0 0 0 Uttar 7 Pradesh 1 1 0 1 1 1 8 West Bengal 1 0 0 1 0 1 9 Haryana 6 5 10 6 3 1 10 Delhi 1 1 1 2 2 1 11 Manipur 1 0 0 1 0 0 12 Jharkhand 1 0 0 0 0 0 13 Karnataka 1 3 1 0 3 014 Kerala 3 8 0 0 2 1 Himachal 15 Pradesh 0 1 0 0 0 1 Andhra 16 Pradesh 0 1 1 0 0 1 17 Rajasthan 0 0 1 1 0 0 18 Telangana 0 0 0 1 1 0 19 Manali 0 0 0 0 1 0 20 Tripura 0 0 0 0 0 1 21 Total 33 26 20 23 17 13 Number of 22 Beneficiaries 33 26 20 23 17 13 Grand Total 1322. The total beneficiaries under the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay National Welfare Program for Sportspersons. Financial Year S.no. States 2020- 2021- 2022- 2023- 2024- 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 1 Delhi 7 5 7 4 0 Andhra 2 Pradesh 2 0 1 0 3 Uttar 3 Pradesh 5 7 7 6 7 4 Haryana 7 8 5 14 12 5 West Bengal 1 3 3 4 0 6 Rajasthan 2 0 0 2 2 7 Bihar 1 4 1 0 0 8 Manipur 2 4 0 0 0 9 Maharashtra 2 6 7 6 2 10 Jharkhand 2 2 1 0 0 11 Karnataka 2 6 2 0 1 12 Punjab 2 3 1 1 0 Jammu & 13 Kashmir 1 1 4 2 1 Madhya 14 Pradesh 1 1 1 0 2 15 Chhattisgarh 1 2 2 0 0 16 Assam 0 1 1 1 017 Gujrat 0 1 0 0 0 18 Tamil Nadu 0 1 3 3 5 19 Bangalore 0 0 1 0 0 20 Kerala 0 0 1 0 0 Himachal 21 Pradesh 0 0 2 0 2 Arunachal 22 Pradesh 0 0 1 0 2 23 Uttarakhand 0 0 1 0 0 24 Pune 0 0 1 0 0 25 Chandigarh 0 0 1 0 0 26 Odisha 0 0 0 1 0 27 Telangana 0 0 0 1 0 Total 38 55 54 45 39 Grand Total 2313. Beneficiaries under TARGET OLYMPIC PODIUM SCHEME. Sl. No. Name of State No. of Athletes 1 Andaman & Nicobar 0 2 Andhra Pradesh 4 3 Arunachal 0 4 Assam 5 5 Bihar 1 6 Chandigarh 4 7 Chhattisgarh 3 8 Delhi 22 9 Goa 1 10 Gujarat 10 11 Haryana 121 12 Himachal 1 13 Jammu & Kashmir 2 14 Jharkhand 10 15 Karnataka 19 16 Kerala 12 17 Madhya Pradesh 12 18 Maharashtra 33 19 Manipur 13 20 Meghalaya 1 21 Mizoram 2 22 Odisha 12 23 Punjab 35 24 Rajasthan 2125 Sikkim 1 26 Tamil Nadu 25 27 Telangana 13 28 Tripura 1 29 Uttar Pradesh 23 30 Uttarakhand 9 31 West Bengal 114. The details of athletes who have been benefited/provided financial assistance under the Khelo India Scheme (Year-wise & State -wise) details thereof: State & Year wise financial support / scholarships to KIAs under Khelo India Scheme SN State / UT 2025- 2024- 2023- 2022- 2021- 2020- 2019- 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 (Q1) 1 Andaman & 4 4 3 3 6 8 7 Nicobar Islands 2 Andhra Pradesh 57 63 49 55 43 56 40 3 Arunachal 17 16 14 11 9 12 9 Pradesh 4 Assam 53 42 39 43 54 45 36 5 Bihar 17 14 14 9 8 10 12 6 Chandigarh 34 34 30 40 39 46 33 7 Chhattisgarh 31 37 45 35 44 30 22 8 Daman Diu and 2 3 3 2 1 4 1 Dadra Nagar Haveli 9 Delhi 140 156 163 199 212 254 195 10 Goa 4 6 10 18 16 18 16 11 Gujarat 68 64 65 81 67 104 106 12 Haryana 497 490 467 432 392 438 375 13 Himachal 32 30 28 34 33 26 19 Pradesh 14 Jammu & 14 17 19 20 30 20 13 Kashmir15 Jharkhand 51 54 47 40 24 27 27 16 Karnataka 160 157 138 136 144 159 173 17 Kerala 114 94 108 103 109 126 131 18 Ladakh 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 19 Lakshadweep 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 20 Madhya Pradesh 97 109 114 100 109 54 72 21 Maharashtra 303 325 347 365 415 347 365 22 Manipur 116 109 105 126 189 255 203 23 Meghalaya 4 5 2 3 13 6 12 24 Mizoram 15 10 15 28 25 39 26 25 Nagaland 1 2 1 1 0 5 0 26 Odisha 81 77 70 57 66 47 53 27 Puducherry 8 5 7 7 6 13 6 28 Punjab 144 159 169 179 161 158 188 29 Rajasthan 155 137 105 81 108 137 95 30 Sikkim 0 1 1 2 6 9 3 31 Tamil Nadu 190 199 173 167 101 94 92 32 Telangana 58 72 59 51 55 132 60 33 Tripura 3 5 5 8 11 23 9 34 Uttar Pradesh 176 190 186 191 186 139 159 35 Uttarakhand 49 45 32 40 53 94 69 36 West Bengal 111 112 118 91 81 95 83 Total 2808 2845 2752 2759 2816 3030 2711Annexure – II ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (d) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 12 FOR ANSWER ON 21.07.2025 REGARDING “INITIATIVES/SCHEMES FOR WELFARE OF SPORTSPERSONS” The key features under the scheme of Assistance to National Sports Federations (ANSF) for addressing the challenges are as follows: (i) Improved Athlete Support Infrastructure:  Enhanced financial assistance for organizing national coaching camps with better infrastructure, sports science support, and training facilities.  Assistance for hiring foreign coaches, sports scientists, psychologists, and mental trainers to improve the quality of preparation and athlete well-being. (ii) Focus on Financial Security and Recognition for Coaches:  The remuneration ceilings for coaches and support staff have been significantly increased, with the limit for Chief Coaches revised from ₹3 lakh to ₹7.5 lakh per month.  Disturbance allowance of ₹1 lakh/month is provided to Government/PSU-employed coaches joining national camps, ensuring fair compensation and retention of top talent. (iii) Structured and Transparent Selection Process:  NSFs are now required to publish athlete and coach selection policies well in advance (one year for Continental/World events and two years for Olympics/Asian Games), promoting transparency and predictability in selection. (iv) Greater Emphasis on Grassroots and Junior Development:  NSFs must earmark at least 20% of their annual budget for grassroots development through their affiliates, ensuring talent identification and progression from the junior level. Dedicated junior development programs are to be overseen by NSF- level committees, supported through convergence with other Ministry schemes. (v) Sports Science and Nutrition Support:  Financial support for medical assessments, diet, and scientific monitoring has been enhanced (e.g., diet charges increased, monthly allowance of ₹10,000 for probables during non-camp periods).  Centralized IT portal has been made mandatory for tracking training loads, injuries, and recovery. (vi) Capacity Building and Knowledge Transfer:  Mandatory engagement of Coaching Education Experts and contribution by foreign experts to train domestic coaches and technical staff, thereby building long-term institutional capacity. ****