Government approves continuation of Scheme of Assistance to National Sports Federations (NSFs) with outlay of Rs 1575 crore.

Why in news?

• Strengthening its support for sports in India, the Union Government has approved continuation of Scheme of Assistance to National Sports Federations (NSFs) with an outlay of Rs. 1575 crore for 15^th Finance Commission Cycle (2021-22 to 2025-26).

About the scheme

• The Scheme of Assistance to NSFs is the flagship Central Sector Scheme.
• It is the main source of funding for preparation of national teams for all major national and international competitions, including the Olympic Games, Para-Olympics, Asian Games, Para Asian Games, Commonwealth Games (CWG) and other major international tournaments.
• The outlay in the cycle will therefore be extended to NSFs to train and field national teams for national and international competitions between 2022 and 2026, prime among them, the Commonwealth and Asian Games of 2022, Olympics and Paralympics 2024 and Asian and Commonwealth Games in 2026.
• The financial support extended by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports through this Scheme will be used by NSFs to conduct national coaching camps, procure sports equipment and consumables, provide training of international standards to athletes, conduct data analysis on the performance of athletes, provide sports science support, provide recovery and rehabilitation to athletes with injury, engage foreign coaches and high performance directors, as well as to set up a professional administrative system within the NSFs.
• The scheme also sets out to improve the bench strength of Indian athletes through a strong talent identification and development system so as to achieve sporting excellence and drive India towards becoming a sporting power house.