In year of Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, budget allocation for SAI reduced

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Bengaluru, February 1: The budget allocation for the Sports Authority of India was cut drastically for 2018-19, a year in which India will participate in the Asian Games in Jakarta and Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.

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The funds earmarked for SAI, which trains and nurtures talent across various disciplines and also looks after many stadiums in the country, was reduced to Rs 429.56 crore from Rs 495.73 crore. The reason for this reduction by Rs 66.17 crore or 13.34% is unknown.

Union finance minister Arun Jaitley presented the 2018-19 budget on Thursday (February 1) and while the overall budget for sports increased from Rs 1938 crore to Rs 2196.35 crore (difference of Rs 258 crore), SAI was snubbed. It is SAI which is in-charge of organising national camps for hockey, archery, gymnastics, track and field and other disciplines.

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Sports minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore's pet project, the Khelo India programme, received a boost of Rs 170 crore. The funds for the programme, aimed at unearthing young grassroots talent all over the country, was increased from Rs 350 crore to Rs 520 crore, a mammoth 50% gain. This, while the 2018 edition of the Khelo India programme is in progress in New Delhi. The Khelo India programme is envisioned to combine the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan, the Urban Sports Infrastructure Scheme and the National Sports Talent Search Programme.

Allocation for sports awards and scholarships received a fillip. Jaitley earmarked Rs 23 crore towards incentives and scholarships at national, state and college level. Metal winners at the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games will be awarded from this fund.

The assistance to national sports federations remained the same - Rs 302.18 crore. This is the fixed amount the administrative body for every sport gets as welfare from the Union government. However, the money for the development of sports infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir was cut to Rs 50 crore from Rs 75 crore.

There was nothing in the Union budget for the country's paralympians. Sports for the differently-abled have no backing from the Central government as the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) is an unrecognised body.