Soon, Chandigarh sportspersons can apply online for cash awards

Local national and international sports achievers will soon be able to apply for cash awards through the online portal of the UT Sports Department. In its final stages, the online portal is most likely to be launched next month, around National Sports Day that falls on August 29.

The local sports achievers, at present, have to apply manually for receiving cash awards. However, the portal will soon allow them to upload documents and their achievements online. The application will be processed by the committee members before approving or rejecting it, for which the reason will be mentioned on the application.

A meeting of the coaches and officials of the Sports Department was held on Monday to discuss the issue. “The online portal has been tested. It may be launched next month or even before. It will allow sportspersons to track their applications. The portal will allow both national and international achievers to apply for cash awards as per the UT Chandigarh Sports Policy,” said Sorabh Kumar Arora, Director, Sports, UT.

Last year, the department had introduced an online system for the enrolment of users at all its affiliated sports complexes. As per the new process, users now download the form online and apply for membership of the desired sports complex. The request gets approved or rejected by the coach concerned, and a specific time slot is allocated to the user.

In April this year, the department had awarded scholarships to 2,394 sportspersons. Last year, as many as 311 international and national achievers from the city were awarded cash prizes to the tune of nearly Rs 4 crore.

As per the New Sports Policy, which was implemented on August 28, 2023, meritorious sportspersons who bagged medals for Chandigarh are entitled to monetary benefits. As per the new policy’s cash award classification, an Olympics/Paralympic Games medallist is entitled to Rs 6 crore for gold medal, Rs 4 crore for silver and Rs 2.5 crore for bronze. Similarly, a total of Rs 3 crore, Rs 1.5 crore and Rs 75 lakh is given to the first three position holders in the Asian/Para Asian Games. For Commonwealth Games/Para Commonwealth Games, the cash awards are Rs 1.5 crore, Rs 75 lakh and Rs 50 lakh, respectively.

Chandigarh