UPOA requests Yogi to sanction diet money

LUCKNOW : The Uttar Pradesh Olympic Association (UPOA) on Wednesday requested chief minister Yogi Adityanath to sanction diet money for the state’s sportspersons and ad hoc coaches who are in distress in view of the pandemic Covid-19. It also urged the CM for the formation of a coordination committee to monitor such assistance.

“It’s a crisis situation for both the sportspersons and the ad hoc coaches. They need immediate financial help for diet as well survival and I request the CM to take up the issue on top priority,” UPOA secretary general Anandeshwar Pandey wrote in a letter to the chief minister on Wednesday.

“The inmates of the hostels and colleges are not getting adequate diet while training at home as all the centres are closed since March 2020. Most of them come from a poor financial background and are unable to manage adequate diet, thus impacting on their training,” Pandey stated.

“Similar is the case of ad hoc coaches as many of them are facing a situation of starvation and unable to make ends meet.”

He suggested that UP government should also constitute a coordination committee involving officials of the UP Sports Directorate and the UPOA to ensure benefits to the athletes as well as the coaches.

“A similar committee has been formed by the Union Sports Ministry involving officials of the Sports Authority of India and the Indian Olympic Association to help the needy sportspersons in this corona crisis.”

He also said that government did not need to do anything special and it could transfer the routine diet money to the accounts of the inmates of the sports hostels and the sports colleges.