Rijiju announces equal diet budget for athletes and trainees at SAI

Patiala, June 29 (IANS) Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju during his visit to the National Institute of Sports here on Saturday announced that the diet budget of SAI trainees, senior athletes and junior athletes will be increased to bring parity, a ministry press release said.

Earlier, the diet allowance for Sports Authority of India (SAI) trainees, junior athletes and senior athletes was Rs 250, Rs 480 and Rs 690 per day, respectively. The ministry in a release said that Rijiju has decided to make the amounts equal.

The Sports Ministry will release an additional amount to Rs 150 crore annually to fund the new diet budget. The move will impact 12,500 athletes training in various SAI centres across the country.

"While having my meal at the athletes mess in Patiala, I noticed that senior and junior athletes and SAI trainees have different diets since the food budget for each section is different," Rijiju was quoted as saying in the release.

"However, diet is key for the success of a sportsperson and no child can become a world champion with inadequate diet. The diet of an athlete should not depend on the level at which he or she is playing, but on the need of the athlete as per the recommendation of coaches and nutritionists.

"Budget cannot be the deciding factor while planning an athlete's diet. I have therefore decided that going forward, there will be no discrepancy in the food budget of athletes who are training at SAI centres," Rijiju said.

The Sports Minister also visited the athletes' mess and kitchen to take a first hand report of the quality of food being served and the way in which they are prepared.

He assured that kitchens in all SAI centres will be modified and made state-of-the-art to ensure that the nutritional value of food is not lost. The minister also said that besides food, the supplements required by the athletes, as per prescription, will also be made available without delay.

During his visit, Rijiju met sportspersons from the fields of volleyball, boxing, athletics and weightlighting and spoke to them and their coaches at length, enquiring about the quality of food served, training regimens and the requirement for added facilities and infrastructure.

While speaking to the athletes, he asked for their suggestions to improve the facilities and asked them to reach out to him with issues that needed attention. He also assured the athletes that their immediate requirements would be catered to within the next two or three months.

"India is an emerging $5 trillion economy, and necessary funds will be managed. We are committed to use funds wherever needed. Every athlete will be given all the required facilities to train hard and win medals for the country," the Sports Minister said.