The central government allocated Rs 3062.60 crore to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports budget for the financial year 2022-23. This year's budget is an increase of Rs 305.58 crore, a hike of 11.08%, than last year's budget estimate.
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One of the most crucial reasons behind increasing the budget of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is encouraging and supporting India’s preparations for the upcoming Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. This should be noted that there was no prior news of increasing allocation for training and preparation in sports.
2022-23 budget estimate
The new budget estimate includes an increase of Rs. 316.29 crore for the government's flagship scheme Khelo India. It was introduced in 2015-16 and it had a budget estimate of Rs. 97.52 crore back then. The -budget of Khelo India increased from last year’s Rs. 657.71 crore to Rs. 974 crore this year. It is somewhat about 30% of the total sports budget.
The budget for National Sports Development decreased from Rs 25 crores last year to Rs 16 crore this year. The Sports Authority of India will now get Rs. 653 crore, a marginal reduction of Rs. 7.41 crore from Rs. 660.41 last year. Also, the budget for the National Sports Federations stays at Rs. 280 crore. The good part of all these is that the fund for awards to sportspersons witnessed an increase from Rs. 245 crore to Rs. 357 crore. Additionally, there is a hike in incentives for sportspersons as well, of the budget Rs. 55 crore.
Rashtriya Yuva Sashaktikaran Karyakram is an umbrella scheme under the Department of Youth Affairs for the all-around development of India's youth. They received Rs 138 crore, which is an increase of Rs 29 crore in BE 2022-23 than last year. Also, National Service Scheme (NSS) received Rs 283.50 crore this year. National Youth Corps received Rs 75 crore. The government took care and also increased the budget in BE 2022-23 from Rs 15 crore to Rs 50 crore. The government did it to encourage and in enhance the sports facilities in Jammu and Kashmir. They also allocated Rs 330.94 crore for the development of sports in northeast areas.
India's success and achievements at the Tokyo Olympics 2021 definitely impacted and influenced the budget this year. India won seven medals, including Neeraj Chopra's historic gold medal. Post lockdowns, sporting activities have also restarted in India. 2022 is an important year as two global events are taking place; the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and Hangzhou Asian Games.
Taking all these into consideration, the government might have decided to increase the budget for the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports