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India lags behind in Olympics
Highlights
Rio Olympics are a mere nine months away and India hopes to better its tally of six medals in the 2012 London Games. To achieve the goal, the government has launched a OP Scheme to extend financial assistance to potential medal winners.
Rio Olympics are a mere nine months away and India hopes to better its tally of six medals in the 2012 London Games. To achieve the goal, the government has launched a OP Scheme to extend financial assistance to potential medal winners.
A total of 106 sportspersons, including nine para-athletes, have so far been identified under this scheme. India’s performance could be improved only if India is able to send a contingent of at least 100 athletes.
According to estimates, 57 Indians have qualified so far for the 2016 Olympics, out of which 32 are from hockey (men and women).
What is the Union Government doing to improve the medal tally? It has formulated the ‘Target Olympic Podium Scheme’ (TOP Scheme). The funding for this scheme will come from the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF).
The objective of the scheme is to identify and support medal prospects for 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games. The selected athletes are being provided financial assistance for their customized training at Institutes having world class facilities and other necessary support. Financial assistance is being provided for customized training and other support after scrutiny of the proposals from them.
Out of the 106 sportspersons selected for the TOP scheme, 26 are from Athletics, 10 each from Badminton & Boxing, 19 from Shooting, 16 from Archery and 9 from Wrestling.
Number of sportspersons selected for the TOP scheme as of November 2015: Para athelitics 9, tennis 3, gymnastics 1, swimming 1, archery 16, yachting 2, wrestling 9, shooting 19, boxing 10, badminton 10 and athlectics 26.
So far, 88 sportspersons have applied for assistance and an assistance of Rs.6.22 crore has been sanctioned to them. The total outlay for the scheme is about 43 crore.
The Union Sports Ministry has identified nine disciplines, including athletics, archery, badminton, boxing, hockey, shooting, tennis, weightlifting and wrestling. Each is undergoing training from proven national and foreign coaches.
How many have qualified so far? Till date, 25 individual sportspersons and hockey teams of 16 members each, have qualified for Rio, taking the total to 57.
Continued on P4
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