He scored an own goal in the Delhi High Court last week but this time Sports Minister Sunil Dutt may be on to the real thing. A series of advertisements over the next few days in national newspapers will inform national champions and international medal winners in 18 disciplines that the ministry will fund them to the tune of Rs 5 lakh and more — if they can prove their case.And their chance to do that will come at a function organised by the ministry at Vigyan Bhavan on May 26.The ads were conceived by the minister as he thought that it was the best way to reach out a maximum number of sportspersons in the country, particularly those at the sub-junior and junior levels. Also the seniors, they too are covered by this scheme.So the minister and his ministry officials will be present at Vigyan Bhavan to hear cases and even help them fill the relevant forms. ‘‘But we want to ensure that all candidates are champion material so we’ll want them to carry their performance chart in the past few years and medals won in national meets’’, a ministry official said.The ministry has also arranged for counselling sessions with the athletes —depending on who needs them — during the function.The special invitees will include Lt Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Anju Bobby George, Bobby Aloysius and Pankaj Advani — he is likely to be a major beneficiary of the funding project. Rathore is unlikely to attend, as he’s competing in Italy, but the other three are.‘‘The idea is to let these people argue out a case why so and so needs funding. Besides, they will also give pep talks to the youngsters on the importance of how to keep fit and achieve at higher level.’’The funding will initially be for those in solo sports as opposed to team sports. Officials said it would be difficult to assess the performance of an individual in a team sport; this category would be dealt with later.
