Six universities/institutes and five medical colleges have been selected for setting up of Sports Science Departments and Sports Medicine Departments under the NCSSR scheme throughout India, the Youth Affairs & Sports Minister Anurag Thakur said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
The selection is based on selection criteria like accreditation, permanent faculty, publications/patents, requirement of funds, national/international cooperation as well as proposal and presentation made by them, the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (YAS) said.
The National Centre of Sports Sciences and Research (NCSSR) of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports aims to support high level research, education and innovation with respect to high performance of elite athletes. The NCSSR has two components: Setting up of NCSSR centre and providing support (funding) for setting up of Sports Sciences Departments and Sports Medicine Departments in selected Universities/Institutes and Medical Colleges respectively.
The objectives of the scheme are implemented through Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the selected Universities/Institutes/Medical Colleges across the country and a net amount of Rs.62.61 crore has been released since inception of the scheme, the minister stated.
Funds are not sanctioned/released state-wise. Further, review of the scheme takes place from time to time to achieve the desired objectives of the scheme, the minister added.
The minister also informed that besides the support given through the NCSSR scheme, the Ministry has adopted research-based selection criteria for elite athletes under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) based on various research inputs like current performance, past performance, comparative data, global analysis, progression rate, etc.
Also, the performance of athlete is monitored continuously vis-a`-vis scientifically set benchmarks for their progression. Further, under the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF), this Ministry provides block grants to SAI to meet the training needs of the athletes selected in the TOPS Core Group and Developmental Group, he added.
