Khelo India to suffer from the Budget slash passed by the government

Last updated on February 16th, 2021 at 07:07 am

The Indian government announced the Budget for the year 2021-22 and through the presentation by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam, it was made clear that the Covid-19 pandemic has seriously impacted certain sectors. Sports is one of the fields which saw a cut in the regular budget this year. 

On Monday the government allocated Rs 2596.14 crore for the sports budget. There was a reduction of Rs 230.78 crore With this, Kiren Rijiju’s ambitious project Khelo India will be the one most affected. This year Khelo India will witness a huge reduction from Rs 890.42 to Rs 660.41 crore. 

A PT official talked to one of the sports ministry officials who revealed, “Initially, sports was allocated Rs 2826.92 in last year’s budget which was later revised to Rs 1800.15 after all sporting events across the world came to a halt because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, sports was allocated Rs 2826.92 in last year’s budget which was later revised to Rs 1800.15 after all sporting events across the world came to a halt because of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The Budget for 2021 saw an increase in Rs 795.99 crore, which is more than that of last year but due to the impact that a postponed Tokyo Olympics had, the sports ministry suffered a lot. The Ministry had to cancel domestic events, international and national events were canceled. Training of athletes was also affected forcing extra investments in their quarantine facilities and coaches. 

The Sports Authority of India, however, saw an increase this time with Rs 160.41 crore. The SAI saw a reduction last year but this year, it was compensated. The total budget was taken to a total of Rs 660.41 crore with this hike of over rs 150 crore. 

Sports Authority of India manages the national camps and training of national athletes, provides infrastructure and other necessary aspects that take off an athlete’s training like logistics and equipment. Separate entities for each sport called the National Sports federations have seen a hike of Rs 35 crore taking the total to Rs 280 crore. 

Keeping the minimal sporting events around the world in mind, the incentives for sportspersons have also been reduced from Rs 70 crore to Rs 53 crore.