India concluded its campaign in the mega sports event, the Paris Olympics with a total of six medals, 5 bronze and 1 silver, falling short of the Tokyo Olympics tally.
Notably, more than 60 per cent of these medals were won by athletes from Haryana, despite the state receiving less than 3% of the Khelo India Budget.
Haryana’s medalists included Manu Bhaker, who won two bronze medals in the 10m air rifle individual and mixed events, Sarabjot Singh who clinched bronze in the 10m air rifle mixed event alongside Bhaker, Aman Sehrawat who secured bronze in the men’s 57kg freestyle wrestling, and three hockey players—Sanjay, Abhishek, and Sumit—who contributed to India’s bronze medal victory against Spain.
Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda criticised the budget allocation by calling it a “gross injustice”, “giving less than 3 per cent of the 22,00 crores amount to a state which has won more than 50 per cent medals in international competitions was a gross injustice.”
States like Gujrat and Uttar Pradesh have been accorded with whopping 400 crores each, while medal medal-producing state has received a mere 65 crore.
Out of 117 Indian athletes that went to Paris, the highest number of athletes were from Haryana, 25. Punjab is second in the leading list with 19, and Tamil Nadu, 13. However, there were only two athletes from Gujrat and seven from Uttar Pradesh.
Hooda further said, “The budget allocation should be based on winning medals, and more funds should be given to states winning more medals.”
He added, "Like in the Union Budget, the Central government also forgot Haryana in the sports budget.”
In the 2024 Union Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman allocated ₹900 crore to the Khelo India scheme, out of an overall sports budget of ₹3,442.32 crore. Despite the limited funding, the Nayab Saini government announced cash prizes for the medalists: ₹2.5 crore for bronze winners, ₹4 crore for Neeraj Chopra, who won silver in javelin throw, and ₹4 crore for Vinesh Phogat, who will be felicitated as a medalist.
India’s contingent of athletes competed in 69 events, with 95 medals at stake. Although the country was expected to bring home 10 medals, it managed to secure only six, given a handful of the athletes were placed fourth in this edition.
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