Sania Mirza is believed to be included in the list. Getty ImagesNew Delhi: Elite athletes preparing for Tokyo Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games will receive a stipend of Rs 50,000 per month to meet their pocket expenses, sports minister Rajyavardhan Rathore announced on Friday.
Rathore's announcement meant that the sports ministry has accepted the recommendation of the Olympic Task Force, headed by Abhinav Bindra, in this regard.
The government has selected 152 elite athletes under the Target Olympic Podium (TOP) scheme. All the athletes will get benefit from this decision. The stipend will be paid with effect from September 1.
"MYAS @IndiaSports announces Rs 50k/month pocket allowance for 152 elite athletes preparing for Tokyo/CWG/Asian Games. Athletes first, always!" Rathore wrote on the official Twitter handle.
"The allowance applies wef 1 Sep 2017 & is purely for pocket expenses of elite athletes. Committed to providing all resources to our champions."
The sports ministry was getting in touch with all the athletes selected under the TOP scheme to get training and competition exposure plan and any further assistance required for preparation of the prestigious competitions.
Paes not included
The Sports Ministry has left out veteran Leander Paes and Saketh Myneni from the initial list of tennis players, who have been chosen for monthly allowance for their preparations for the next year's big-ticket events and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
According to reliable Sports Ministry sources, among the players who have been chosen for Rs 50,000 allowance per month are leading men's singles players Yuki Bhambri and Ramkumar Ramanathan, country's top doubles player Rohan Bopanna and youngster Sumit Nagal.
Myneni, who has been dropped alongside Paes, is the recipient of this year's Arjuna award.
Three women players have been included in the list -- Sania Mirza, Prarthana Thombare and Karman Kaur Thandi.
Surprisingly country's top singles player Ankita Raina has not been included in the list.
While Ankita is ranked 260 in the world, Thombare, who played Olympics with Sania, is ranked 801 in singles. There are nine Indian players ranked above her.
In the doubles though, Thombare is country's second highest ranked player at number 129 behind Sania, who is now world number eight.
"This is not the final list," a Sports Ministry official told PTI.
In all, the ministry has chosen 152 athletes across disciplines for their preparations for next year's Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The players will receive funds directly through 'Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)' with effect from September 1.
"Anyone who performs well can be added in the list later on and who fails to perform can be removed from the list," the official added.
Another source said a review committee will sit in the next 15-20 days to evaluate performance of the chosen athletes.
"It's a continuous process now. We will see who is doing what. We will see near the Commonwealth Games, who have been chosen in the team and what could be their chances for the Asian Games. And then how they have performed at the CWG to see if they should be kept in the list or removed," said the official.
Asked what was the criteria to choose the players, the official said the list was prepared after getting input from the national federation and government observers apart from ministry's own research committee.
In tennis' case, Somdev Devvarman is the national observer.
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