Target Olympic Podium Scheme
Context:
- Haryana-based golfer Diksha Dagar and Judoka Yash Ghangas have been included in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) in the Core and Development groups respectively.
- The 21-year-old left-hander Diksha Dagar, who is from Jhajjar in Haryana and is a silver medalist in the 2017 Summer Deaflympics, finished 50th in the Olympic Games last year. Yash, meanwhile, rose from Panipat in Haryana to express himself on the mat
- The Union Sports Ministry primarily supports elite athletes under the Annual Calendar for Training and Competition (ACTC) of each National Sports Federation.
- TOPS provides customized support to athletes in areas not covered under the ACTC and addresses unanticipated needs of the athletes as they prepare to excel in the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
About TOPS:
OBJECTIVE
- In order to improve India’s performance at Olympics and Paralympics, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) started the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) in September 2014.
- This was revamped in April 2018 to establish a technical support team for managing the TOPS athletes and providing holistic support.
- The scheme is fully functional and has been extending all requisite support to probable athletes identified for the 2020 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games including foreign training, international competition, equipment and coaching camp besides monthly stipend of Rs. 50,000/- for each athlete.
TOPS (Target Olympic Podium Scheme) is a flagship program of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports which is an attempt to provide assistance to India’s top athletes.
- The Scheme looks to add a premium to the preparations of these athletes so that they can win medals in the Olympics. The Scheme currently supports 104 TOPS Core Group athletes across 13 sports disciplines & Hockey (M & W) teams and 269 TOPS Development Group athletes across 12 sports disciplines.
RECENT SUCCESS
- The TOPS sponsored athletes gained relative success at the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
- P V Sindhu and Sakshi Malik captured silver and bronze in Badminton and Wrestling respectively at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
- In the 2016 Paralympic Games, the TOPS Athletes won 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze demonstrating the effectiveness of the Scheme. The recent success of the Commonwealth Games emphasized the efficacy of the Scheme.
- Out of the 70 athletes who won medals at the CWG, 47 of them were supported under the TOP Scheme.
Source: THE HINDU.
