The Minister of State (I/C) for Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Vijay Goel said that the Government provides financial assistance, under the scheme of “Assistance to National Sports Federations”, to the recognised National Sports Federations (NSFs) for supporting girls/ women’s exposure, training and participation at national/ international level. Similar support is also provided to boys/ men.
In a written reply he said Sports Authority of India (SAI) is implementing the following sports promotional schemes across the country to identify talented sports persons including women in the age group of 8-25 years and nurture them to excel at National and International competitions:
• National Sports Talent Contest Scheme (NSTC)
• Army Boys Sports Company (ABSC)
• SAI Training Center (STC)
• Special Area Games (SAG)
• Extension Center Of STC/SAG
• Center Of Excellence (CoE)
• National Sports Academy (NSA)
In order to identify talented sports persons including prospective women trainees in various sports disciplines, SAI has established 10 Regional Centers and 02 Academic Institutions for imparting regular sports training in 27 sports disciplines through its 289 SAI Sports Centers spread across the country.
The sports person including women trainees identified and trained under SAI schemes are provided with financial benefits in the form of services of expert coaches, indoor and outdoor Playfields, Sports Equipment (Consumable and Non-Consumable), Boarding & Lodging, Sports Kit, Competition Exposure, Educational Expenses, Medical/Insurance and Stipend as per the approved scheme norms.
Presently, 13684 talented sports persons identified and are being trained under SAI Schemes across the country of which 4032 are women trainees. However, state wise data is not maintained.