Indian Govt launches online initiative for sportspersons, awards and funding 

The govt has made the process of collecting rewards and dues for sportspersons online, reducing the effort athletes would need to make for the government to provide them with their reward. 

Anurag Thakur, Minister of Sports, Youth Affairs and Minister of Information and Broadcasting, launched three initiatives of his department last Friday—online portal for schemes of the development of sports; the national sports development fund (NSDF) website; a revised scheme of cash reward, national welfare and pension to sportspersons. 

While active athletes who seek recognition and rewards from the government can now apply online on the portal of the Department of Sports, corporates, PSUs and individuals can now contribute to the NSDF fund on its newly-built website. 

Speaking on the launch of the initiatives, Anurag Thakur, said: 

“We will continue to provide facilities to our athletes but if we can integrate technology with these facilities it can be very beneficial. If an athlete had to seek rewards and recognition from the government after a good performance, they had to go via the federations or SAI earlier, then it went through scrutiny and it took almost a year or two for these athletes to get their dues.”