Estimates Committee Report Recommends Enhanced Allocation for Sports

To bank in on the country’s abundance of sports talent and to promote the country’s active involvement in sports, the Lok Sabha’s Estimates Committee, in its Eighth Report on Review of Performance of the Scheme Khelo India (presented to the Lok Sabha on February 9, 2021) has asked the Central Government to provide for an increased allocation towards the sports sector in the upcoming Budget, with a specific emphasis on the Sports Authority of India (SAI).

Subsequently, a report on the Government’s response to and the action taken on the recommendations made therein was presented by the Chairperson of the Estimates Committee to the Lok Sabha on December 20 2022. In appreciation of the Government’s initiative in the Khelo India scheme, the committee proposed that the same be continued after 2019-20, post which a revised scheme was approved by the Ministry of Finance and set to last until 2026.

Noticing an inconsistency in the allocation of funds by the Government toward the SAI, the committee recommended the Government enhance the budget allocation to SAI for its continued progress in furtherance of the sports sector. The same was suggested considering the easing of the various restrictions and protocols as the country prepares for the post-pandemic era.

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, in its response to the recommendations under the committee’s eighth report, highlighted that the Central Government is responsible for fund allocation and specified that the committee’s recommendations were “duly noted”.