The Ministry of Sports is set to refurbish its programme ‘Kreeda Shakthi’, which supports promising school-going athletes to better their chances in reaching the national level.
The programme which originally had plans to support 5000 such students with a monthly allowance of rupees 1000 will now face a drastic change.
According to the new drafts, the Ministry of Sports has pruned down the number of students from 5000 to 1350 while the allowance is set to increase from rupees 1000 to 2500 monthly. However the athletes will have to go through a strict process through the programme before being benefited.
“The monthly allowances will be directly deposited in the athlete's bank account as per the recommendation and progress report submitted by the district coaches,” the Ministry of Sports stated in a press release.
The Ministry of Sports also hopes to conduct in-house training programmes, lectures, and workshops for the selected athletes through the ‘Kreeda Shakthi’ programme apart from the funding. In addition the Ministry has shown its interest in providing guidance on sports technical management with the assistance of special foreign coaches for athletes who are in squads of the respective sports.
“By all these programmes our hope is to develop the sporting talents of these youngsters,” the communiqué further stated.
The refurbished ‘Kreeda Shakthi’ programme will be implemented from October 1 by the ministry officials. Athletes who have displayed their talents at the provincial and district levels will be considered for the monthly allowance given through this programme. The programme failed to reach its height after implementation with a budget of rupees 50 million.
“The amount was not adequate and it resulted the programme to be inefficient in the previous years. Minister of Sports, Mahindananda Aluthgamage advised this programme to be restructured and implemented by making it more beneficial for the development of the talents of the young athletes.”
The programme will be implemented by recommendations made by a committee headed by Yogananda Wijesundara, a well-known coach who has been appointed to look into the matters pertaining. - NA |
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