Minister for Youth Empowerment and Sports B. Nagendra has said a total of 75 sportspersons from the State had been chosen for training and support ahead of the Paris Olympics scheduled to be held next year.
Replying to a question from Darshan Puttannaiah in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday on the schemes of the State government to encourage sportspersons in Karnataka, Mr. Nagendra said the State government was implementing the Amrutha Sports Adoption Scheme from 2021-22 to facilitate sportspersons from the State to compete in top sports platforms like National Sports Meet, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, Olympics etc.
A total of 75 athletes with medal-winning potential had been chosen for the Olympics to be held in Paris during 2024. The objective of the scheme is to identify, nurture and provide necessary support systems to talented athletes, who have the potential to perform at the international level including Olympics.
“The beneficiaries of the said scheme are being given an annual incentive of ₹10 lakh each for their sports training, sports science support, nutritious food, purchase of sports kits required for training, participation in National Games, daily needs and for education expenses,” he said.
Also, Mr, Nagendra said the State government would appoint 180 physical education coaches to train sports persons in different fields.
He also said that the government was reimbursing the tuition fee of medal winners at the national level. Educational fee up to ₹50,000 was being reimbursed to the medal winners at national level and participants at the international level.
The Minister also pointed out that sportspersons from the State, who had excelled at national and international level were being admitted to professional courses such as engineering, medical and so on under the sports quota in the common entrance test.
The State had two sports schools and 32 sports hostels across the State, where free accommodation, boarding, sports training, travel allowance for participating in sports events, sports uniforms, free medical facilities etc., were provided to the sportspersons.
The Minister pointed out that there were a total of 29 district stadiums in the State, which were equipped with sports courts, synthetic athletic track, synthetic hockey turf, football turf, indoor stadium, swimming pool, accommodation, water supply, toilet facilities, seating gallery for spectators, indoor lighting etc.
Meanwhile, responding to a question from Balakrishna C.N., Mr. Nagendra said there were a total of 125 taluk stadiums under the Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports.
The government would accord priority for construction of stadiums in taluk centres that did not have such a facility.
