The scheme, which had primarily been launched with an aim to identify medal hopefuls and help them prepare for the Olympics, has created more problems for athletes rather than simplifying their preparation for the Games.
Ever since the government rolled out its ambitious Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), there has been complaints from athletes about inordinate delays in the release of funds, multi-layered clearances and never-ending paperwork.
But, with a little less than six months to go for the Rio Olympics, the ministry has finally taken cognisance of such complaints and has decided to make 90 per cent of earmarked TOPS funding available to short-listed (those who have qualified) athletes "without any paperwork" and "no multiple clearances involved" so that athletes solely focus on their Rio preparation.
The scheme, which had primarily been launched with an aim to identify medal hopefuls and help them prepare for the Olympics, has created more problems for athletes rather than simplifying their preparation for the Games.
This would include those TOPS athletes who have either qualified for the Rio Games or have their qualifiers lined up in the coming months. Shooters Vijay Kumar, Ankur Mittal, Mohammad Asab, Shweta Chaudhary, Rahi Sarnobat and Anisa Sayyed, who have failed to qualify for the Rio Games, wouldn't be eligible to receive any more TOPS funding.
It has also been agreed to appoint Sports Authority of India's (SAI) 'Project Officers' as 'mentors' with certain TOPS athletes, who face difficulty in submitting their expenditure details for training stint abroad.
This would benefit 60-odd athletes including Heena Sidhu, Arpinder Singh and Khushbir Kaur, all of whom have been vocal critics of TOPS.
"This has been done keeping in mind that very little time is left for the Rio Olympics. The athletes should be focusing on their training. We don't want a situation where they are only concerned about how to get TOPS funding," sports secretary Rajiv Yadav told dna.
"This (less paperwork) should have been done much earlier, but one must appreciate that the ministry has finally done it. Appointment of mentors is another step in that direction. They will do all the paperwork on athletes' behalf. This way, it will be easy for athletes to get the funding (as operational part of TOPS is handled by SAI)," he added.
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