Question : Budget for Encouragement and Awards to Sportsperson

(a) whether the revised budgetary allocation of Rs. 1800 crore towards sports for the year 2020-21 which was Rs. 900 crore lower than the budgetary allocation in the previous year and further reduction by Rs. 230 crore for the year 2021-22 should not be seen as the Government side-lining the Olympic dream of our sportsmen; and

(b) the remedial measures taken by the Government to ensure a spirited performance and morale of players in the upcoming sporting events for ‘Encouragement and Awards to Sportsperson’ given the substantial decrease in the budgetary allocations (Budget for 2020-21 revised downwards by Rs. 192 crore?

THE MINISTER OF YOUTH AFFAIRS & SPORTS
( SHRI ANURAG SINGH THAKUR )

(a) and (b) No, Sir. The Ministry of Finance allocated ?2100.42 crore for FY 2020-21, the highest ever budget for the Department of Sports, which was revised at RE stage to ?1313.40 crore due to the pandemic. In the Union budget of 2021-22, Ministry of Finance has allocated ?1960.14 crore to the Department of Sports, which amounts to an increase of 19.13 percent (?306.14 crore) over the Budget Estimate (?1600 crore) of 2019-2020. Further, a budgetary increase of 14.28 percent under the scheme of Assistance to National Sports Federations has also assisted further in supporting the Olympic preparation of Indian athletes. The scheme has received an allocation of ?280 crore during 2021-22, compared to the Budget Estimate (?245 crore) of 2020-21. The substantial increase has led to higher spends in the Annual Calendar for Training and Competitions, and for funding the training needs of athletes. The details of Budget allocations of FY 2019-20 to FY 2021-22 are at Annexure.
*****