Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
New Delhi, February 2
The Sports Ministry has received a hike of Rs 258.2 crore in the Union Budget for 2018-19. Compared to last year’s budget of Rs 1938.16 crore, the Finance Minister allocated Rs 2196.36 crore for sports this year. However, the funds allocated to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) have been cut by Rs 66.17 crore; as against Rs 495.73 crore received by SAI for the financial year of 2017-18, only Rs 429.56 crore has been granted for this year.
With the Commonwealth and Asian Games scheduled later this year, the marginal hike is likely to leave the sports fraternity a little disappointed.
Prime Minister’s brainchild Khelo India, though, has received a big boost of Rs 520.09 crore, up from Rs 350 crore allocated to the project last year. In fact, the funds allotted to Khelo India constitute 23.67 per cent of the total sports budget this year. Khelo India is a subsidiary of the National Programme for Development of Sports, for which a total of Rs 1262.79 crore has been earmarked, up from Rs 1047.19 crore provided last year.
The budgetary assistance for the enhancement of sports facilities in Jammu and Kashmir has been reduced to Rs 50 crore from previous financial year’s Rs 75 crore. While there is no specific mention of budgetary assistance to the athletes preparing for the upcoming Commonwealth and Asian Games, the Finance Minister announced an increase of nearly Rs 40 crore for various National Sports Federations (NSFs). In the previous year, NSFs received a total of Rs 302.18 crore; this year it has been increased to Rs 342 crore.
The National Sports Development Fund’s (NSDF) allocation remained static at Rs 2 crore, while contribution to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) remains at Rs 1 crore. The allocation for incentives to sportspersons has been increased from Rs 18.13 crore (2017-18) to Rs 23 crore for the year 2018-19. The scheme of Human Resource Development in Sports saw a cut of 50 per cent from Rs 10 crore to Rs 5 crore.
