Kiren Rijiju says there will be no shortage of funds for CSFs despite government slashing funds  

On Wednesday, Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju assured that there will be no shortage of funds for the National Sports Federations (NSFs), despite the government cutting down its sports budget in the year of the Olympics. The government in its union budget gave a substantial hike of Rs 312.42 crore to its flagship Khelo India programme but reduced allocation to the NSFs, National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) and incentives for sportspersons.

"If there are shortage of funds for the federations, these can always be taken up, that is why there is a provision for revision. If they need more money, they will get more money," Rijiju told reporters.

But talking about the overall picture, Rs 2826.92 crore was allocated to the sports budget for the next financial year which is an increase of a mere Rs 50 crore from the revised estimates of 2019-20.

Rijiju said: "You are looking from a different angle. Whatever we got in the last budget allocation, we had a jump of more than 50 %, what you are saying 50 crores, you are comparing from the Revised Estimate (RE), if you see the original allocation in last budget, it is a historical jump. You have to see from the actual standpoint, then you will get the complete picture.”