Hockey players finally get an out-of-pocket allowance after years of waiting

New Delhi: For reason unknown, the men and women national campers of Indian hockey weren’t entitled to an out-of-pocket allowance (OPA) by the govt under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) over the years.

Since the inception of TOPS in Sep 2014, athletes from other disciplines benefitted from the sports ministry’s benevolence of monthly stipend to the identified pool of sportspersons but not the hockey players. However, this anomaly was rectified in a recent meeting of the Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) here on Thursday. The 156th governing council meeting of the MOC has approved an OPA of Rs 25,000 per month for the national campers of both the men’s and women’s hockey teams after considering the request of the sport’s national federation – Hockey India (HI).

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A total of 80 players (40 men and 40 women) will benefit from the allowance which is given to athletes in the developmental group of TOPS. Athletes in the core group of TOPS receive a monthly stipend of Rs 50,000. The allowance to hockey players would cost the govt Rs 20 lakh per month, a ministry official said.

“The allowance was requested by Hockey India for some time and we have decided to accept the demand. The players have performed reasonably well and it (this allowance) is being given on merit.

The federation will have to submit a list of players to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) every month for disbursement of the funds,” sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya said here on Friday. The men’s team was considered for OPA after winning two back-to-back bronze medals — in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and the subsequent Paris Games last year. The team also secured a gold at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023. The women’s team finished a creditable fourth in Tokyo. Both the teams are currently playing in the FIH Pro League’s European leg. A ministry official informed that the proposals worth Rs 4.28 cr from athletes were approved by the MOC, including Rs 1.38 cr financial assistance to tennis players Saketh Myneni, Jeevan Nedu.