Rs 100 crore for funding of athletes under TOPS, informs SAI
The director general of SAI Neelam Kapur has revealed that the Sports Ministry has kept aside Rs 100 crore to be used in the funding of athletes under TOPS ahead of the 2020 Olympics preparations. A TOPS secretariat has also been established to get the preparations on the right track.
Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) was launched in September 2014 and is a programme of the Sports Ministry. This was launched with a motive of providing financial help to the potential medal winners who have the ability to bring laurels for the country during prestigious events like Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and the Olympics. SAI has informed that it has got instructions from the Sports Ministry that there shouldn’t be any shortage of funds for the sportspersons under the scheme.
“We have kept a ballpark (approximate) figure of Rs 100 crores for 2020 Olympics. The sports minister has instructed that there shouldn’t be any shortage of funds for the athletes in TOPS,” Kapur told PTI.
“With TOPS, we have tried to take a holistic approach. We are consulting the national federations, national observers taking their feedbacks and after going through all the data the final selection is made by the Mission Olympics Cell,” she added.
The government has also set up a TOPS secretariat, which has been active since the months of September, to get the preparations of the Indian contingent right on track prior to the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. It also aims at building a good sustainable sports atmosphere in India. Through the scheme, the Ministry is not only aiming at the next Olympics but also targeting the medal prospects for 2024 and 2028 games and is keeping an eye on the future.