Govt mulls corpus fund to support sportspersons

Vijayawada: Minister for Transport, Youth Services, and Sports Mandipalli Ram Prasad Reddy on Thursday announced that the state government is contemplating to establish a corpus fund of Rs 2 crore to Rs 5 crore to provide financial support to deserving athletes, who are struggling financially. He said the proposal would be taken to the notice of Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu for his consideration.

Minister Ram Prasad Reddy along with international badminton player PV Sindhu flagged off a sports rally at the Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation (IGMC) Stadium here on the occasion of National Sports Day, which is observed on the birth anniversary of hockey legend Maj Dhyan Chand. The rally was organised by the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh.

Addressing the gathering, he said there is no shortage of youth in the state and they can excel at national and international sports events, if they get encouragement, coaching and support.

He urged the sportspersons to win more medals at the national and international events. He announced his monthly salary of Rs 3, 16, 000 will provide coaching and sports kits to poor outstanding players in the state.

Paris Olympics participants Bommadevara Dhiraj (Archery), Yarraji Jyothi, and Jyothika Sri (Athletics), SAAP officials GV Ramana, A Mahesh Babu, K Koteswara Rao, P Surendra, Kishore Babu, NTR DSDO SA Azeez and others were present.