At the time of writing, Tamil Nadu won 24 ongoing gold medals. Khelo india para gameCurrently running in New Delhi. The state is in second place – both gold medals won and overall medals were earned. At the 2024 Olympics, Tamil Nadu sent six athletes in the 4 x 400 meter relay, who gave the best performance of the season. This was the most athletes for any state.
However, the state’s share from the central government has been disappointingly rare.
Since the introduction of Khelo India Scheme in 2017, it was distributed to states for Rs 2,168.78 crore, Tamil Nadu received a minority of Rs 20.4 crore. This is despite the state’s extraordinary performance in national and international sports events.
The data suggests a large inequality in the money obtained geographically large and nonBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) -Rule States.
Under the Khelo India Scheme, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Telangana, Kerala, Punjab, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh received Rs 20.4 crore, Rs 22.22 crore, Rs 17.77 crore, Rs 50 crore, Rs 50 crore, Rs 78.02 crore, Rs 9.63 crore, and RS 19.66, and RS 19.66.
On the other hand, geographically the largest BJP states – Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh – got Rs 107.33 crore, Rs 94.06 crore, Rs 87.43 crore and Rs 438.27 crore respectively.
A senior official of the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MyAs) said that the proposals sent by the state governments are evaluated before issuing funds. However, the data otherwise shows.
A senior official of the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MyAs) said that the proposals sent by the state governments are evaluated before issuing funds. “The state’s commitment to promote the existing game infrastructure and sports is noted, but there is no political affiliation,” the officer demanded oblivion, quint.
However, observed inequalities have increased the discussion about equal distribution of resources.
DMK Rajya Sabha MP P Wilson, who raised the issue in the upper house, recently told The Quint“BJP ruled states get a share of lion under the scheme, while others are getting peanuts. Tamil Nadu aims to build a state-of-the-art stadium in every district-and will be helpful to the central government.”
Pending multi-milling proposal
In 2024-25, the Tamil Nadu government submitted a proposal of Rs 120 crore to Myas to develop the infrastructure of the game. However, the state has been denied any money so far.
A senior official said, “Proposals sent in the last one year include a synthetic athletic track, a multipurpose indoor stadium, a swimming pool and funds for a synthetic hockey turf at various places in the state.”
Even the top notch stadiums in Tamil Nadu lack significant facilities. The state is a proven talent center, especially in sprint and jump, produces more top athletes than any other Indian state. Nevertheless, the lack of infrastructure hinders their development.
The stadium hosts more than 200 master and professional athletes daily. Without a world -class facility, many are forced to train abroad, spending huge amount to reach better infrastructure.
The absence of funds appears in Sports Centers in Tamil Nadu. A source in the state government said, “The coaches of Khelo India Center in the state are paid only once every three months, which are forced to leave many people.”
Andhra Pradesh’s prediction
Andhra Pradesh is like Tamil Nadu’s prediction.
Between 2021 and 2023, proposals worth Rs 237.56 crore submitted by the Government of Andhra Pradesh were rejected by Mys. Since December 2023, after the introduction of an online portal to submit the proposals by Myas, the state presented 36 projects with an estimated cost of Rs 307.57 crore, indicating the data shared by Andhra Pradesh (SAAP).
Sankara said that she is now hoping to receive more funds in future that the NDA coalition is in power.
Following the bilateral of Andhra Pradesh in 2014, Telangana inherited world class stadiums and top level sports features in Hyderabad, which reduced Andhra greatly.
There is also no district in Andhra Pradesh, there is a decent stadium in the state. Even in the city of Tier -1, such as Visakhapatnam, there is no infrastructure to operate the national level championship, “RK Purushotham, president of the Andra Pradesh Olympic Association, said that the fund can be repeated under Azad.
What are the plans of the state if they get money?
Sunkara said that it aims to set up national centers of excellence in Guntur (athletics, archery, weightlifting) and Kakinada (hockey, rifle shooting), launching state level sports in seven districts and hosts Khelo India National Games in seven districts.
(Lasya Shekhar is an independent journalist from Chennai with a 10 -year experience in print and digital media who mainly cover environment, energy and women’s issues.)
