Kirti Azad

Trinamool Congress MP and former cricketer Kirti Azad has highlighted a significant disparity in the sports development funds allocated by the central government to different Indian states. According to the data shared by Azad on X (formerly Twitter), Uttar Pradesh received the highest allocation of ₹438.27 crore, followed by Gujarat at ₹426.13 crore.

Azad pointed out that the central government has allocated a total of ₹2,168.78 crore for sports development in various states. Of this, the top two BJP-ruled states, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, have received a combined ₹864 crore, 40% of the total allocation.

However, in contrast, the remaining 60% has been distributed among 30 states and Union Territories of the nation.

Given that neither Gujarat nor Uttar Pradesh won any medals despite sending 3 and 6 athletes, respectively, fingers are pointed now at the effectiveness of the Centre’s sports development programmes.

Azad added that Manipur, which produced Olympic medallists, received only ₹46 crore, a mere tenth of what Gujarat got. Similarly, Haryana, which produced the highest number of athletes for the Olympics, received only ₹66.59 crore.

Haryana sent 24 athletes to the Paris Olympics, while Punjab sent 19. Notably, three out of the four individual medals won by India at the Paris Olympics 2024 were clinched by Haryana athletes: Neeraj Chopra (javelin throw), Manu Bhaker, and Sarabjot Singh (shooting).

Swapnil Kusale, who won a bronze medal in shooting for India, hails from Kolhapur, Maharashtra, which received ₹87.43 crore from the central government.

The Indian hockey team, which also won a bronze medal in Paris, repeating their 2021 Tokyo Olympics feat, has a significant number of players from Punjab. Despite this, Punjab received only ₹78.02 crore.

Many have come out in support of Azad’s post, alleging that the Modi government in the Centre is favouring Gujarat and discriminating against other states.