He handed over checks to 60 sports persons under the Delhi government’s ‘Mission Excellence’ initiative that provides financial assistance to promising players.
In the first year of the scheme, the Delhi government had distributed financial assistance of ₹9.51 crore to 117 players, while adding, “We will not allow talented players to face any lack of funds; we have to make the country proud.” He highlighted that the players who were given financial aid by the Delhi government under the scheme have brought medals for India in the Olympics.
The Chief Minister added that he dreamt of an India where our sports persons brought more international medals to the country than Chinese and American contestants.
The ‘Mission Excellence Scheme’ program was operationalized in the year 2018 to provide financial assistance to top-performing sports persons of Delhi. Through the scheme, financial assistance is given to top-level sports persons for training and maintaining their dietary supplements to compete in international tournaments and championships.
In a bid to impart “world-class sports education” to Indian athletes and achieve the country’s dreams in this regard, the Delhi Sports University on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of East London.
The memorandum, which was signed in the presence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at an event in Chanakyapuri here, aims to build cooperation between both the universities in exchange of knowledge, research and innovation opportunities in the fields of sports science and staff and student exchange, the government said.
This will help develop new courses and careers for sports, thereby improving the sports ecosystem in both the countries, the government added.
“There’s a nagging feeling in every Indian’s heart that despite being a country of 130 crore people we’ve only won a handful of medals. Delhi Sports Policy aims to nurture a culture of sports that can catapult underprivileged children to the global arena,” Mr. Kejriwal said.
“The Sports Policy of Delhi has two main objectives: to nurture a culture of sports in Delhi and to ensure that we win as many medals as possible in the Olympics for our nation,” he added.
The BJP opposition, meanwhile, accused Mr. Kejriwal of dealing only in promises and alleged that the university only existed on paper.
Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta said Mr. Kejriwal had boasted of setting up a sports university on October 3, 2019, at Mundka but nobody knew its whereabouts.
“To date, Delhiites haven’t seen the face of this university and ironically the same university has now entered a pact with another university to promote world-class players,” Mr. Gupta alleged.
It is difficult to expect a sports varsity from a government that could not start even one new school in the past seven years, Mr. Gupta added.
Speaking at Tuesday’s event, the Delhi CM said, “Delhi Sports University doesn’t belong to Delhi alone, we’ve developed it for every single Indian out there. The Delhi government will ensure that talent from across the country makes it to Delhi Sports University; we’ll scout talent all across India.”
In October 2019, the Delhi Cabinet passed the bill to set up Delhi Sports University in Mundka. It was proposed that the university will be set up as a State university and it will have a full-fledged Delhi Sports School, affiliated with the CBSE, for imparting education with an emphasis on sports. Last year, the government appointed India’s first woman Olympic medal winner Karnam Malleswari as the Vice-Chancellor of the upcoming university.
Barbara Wickham OBE, Director India, British Council congratulated both the universities on “inking of this partnership that will bring immense value for the students looking to build their careers in athletics”.
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