The committee, which selected 184 athletes for the Sports Ministry’s Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), expressed concerns over the implementation of the scheme, according to The Indian Express. TOPS is a scheme which funds elite athletes for their training.
The ministry has been asked for a status report on TOPS by the committee which comprises Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra, former India badminton player Prakash Padukone, former India sprinter PT Usha, and former India weightlifter Karnam Malleswari.
The committee wrote a letter to the Sports Secretary Rahul Bhatnagar, saying that a Rio Olympics-like debacle can happen again at the Commonwealth and Asian Games in 2018.
The Indian Express has reported that none of the athletes, who are part of the TOPS scheme, have been given the required support for their training. The athletes have only received a monthly stipend of Rs 50,000 that was announced by Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.
Many athletes, who spoke to the Indian Express, said that their request for a training exercise abroad or a bigger support staff has been unanswered by the Ministry for many weeks.
Abhinav Bindra, who was leading the committee, resigned last week. The reason given for leaving was potential conflict of interest with his private projects.
The Sports Ministry launched TOPS two years ago to fund athletes’ training expense, personal coach fees, travel and stay cost during competition, and training sessions and also equipment purchases.
Since the ministry failed to adhere to the requests made by most of the athletes, it resulted in India winning just two medals at the Rio Olympics.
While speaking to The Quint, the Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore made it clear that there is no dearth of money in the ministry. He expressed that every penny is going to be used to its maximum value.
So, the question is, why have the funds not been given to the athletes on time in a proper manner? On time being key, with the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games in 2018.
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