JOIN USIn a bid to improve the plight of forgotten national sports stars living in penury, the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs is set to implement various welfare schemes in the coming months.
“The Ministry is implementing a scheme named ‘National Welfare Fund for Sportspersons’ under which there is a provision for providing ex-gratia financial assistance to outstanding sportspersons of yesteryears, now living in indignant circumstances whose annual income is less than Rs 2 lakh,” said UnionSports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. In a written reply in parliament on Tuesday, Sonowal said:
“The Ministry is implementing another scheme titled “Scheme of Pension to Meritorious Sportspersons” from 1984 under which life time monthly pension is given to those sportspersons who have won gold, silver and bronze in Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and World Cups/World Championships and Paralympic Games.”
The pension of Olympic medallists has been set at Rs 10,000 per month while the gold medallists at the World Cup/World Championships in Olympic and Asian Games disciplines will get Rs 8,000.
Silver and bronze medallists of the World Cup/World Championships in the Olympic and Asian Games disciplines and gold medallists of the Asian and Commonwealth Games will get Rs 7,000.
Silver and bronze medallists of the Asiad and CWG will be entitled to get Rs 6,000, gold medallists of para-Olympic Games will get Rs 5,000.
While silver and bronze medallists of Paralympic Games have also not been neglected with a monthly pension of Rs 3,000 per month.