Gandhinagar, August 12: Gujarat’s Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghvi launched the revamped ‘Shaktidoot 2.0’ scheme on Wednesday in Gandhinagar. This initiative aims to provide direct assistance to athletes, with a goal of helping state players achieve success on national and international platforms over the next decade.
Under this scheme, the annual training support for each athlete has been increased to ₹50 lakh, which also includes special provisions for para-athletes.
The launch took place at Mahatma Mandir as part of the state government’s ‘Ramshe Gujarat, Jitshe Gujarat’ initiative. During the event, the inauguration and foundation-laying of approximately 37 sports complexes, libraries, and other facilities, costing over ₹388 crore, were also announced.
A total of 799 athletes were honored with the Eklavya Award, Sardar Patel Award, and Jaydeep Singhji Award for their achievements in sports.
Sanghvi emphasized the government’s commitment to providing young athletes with the necessary support to achieve their sporting goals. He stated that the ‘Shaktidoot 2.0’ scheme, initiated under Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel’s leadership, will offer Gujarat’s athletes a robust platform to shine and bring glory to the state and the nation in the coming decade.
Since its inception in 2015, the original Shaktidoot scheme has assisted 1,740 athletes, including 777 international competitors who have won medals in various sports.
The new scheme will now provide support to 500 athletes, an increase from the previous 64. Each athlete can receive up to ₹50 lakh annually for world-class training, averaging about ₹4.25 lakh per month. The scheme reserves 50 seats specifically for para-athletes.
Athletes can apply year-round through an online portal, with selections based on their medals and performance. Sanghvi also announced plans for Gujarat to establish the country’s number one sports science and medicine recovery facility to aid athletes recovering from injuries.
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