In a move aimed at strengthening the sporting ecosystem in Jharkhand, the state Cabinet on Thursday gave its approval to a new pension scheme for athletes, offering monthly financial support ranging from ₹5,000 to ₹20,000.
The decision was among 26 proposals cleared at the Cabinet meeting, while two items were deferred for further deliberation.
The revised policy will extend lifetime pensions to sportspersons from Jharkhand who have secured medals at recognised national and international competitions. To ensure structured benefits, the scheme has been categorised into 10 different slabs based on the level of achievement.
Athletes who have received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award or won medals at the Olympic Games will be entitled to the highest monthly pension of ₹20,000.
Medal winners at major events such as the World Cup, Asian Games, SAF Games and National Games will receive pensions ranging between ₹5,000 and ₹16,000, with National Games medalists placed in the lowest bracket.
The Cabinet decision builds on the state government’s earlier initiatives to encourage sporting excellence. In July 2021, Chief Minister Hemant Soren had announced substantial cash incentives for Olympians from Jharkhand, promising ₹2 crore for gold medalists, ₹1 crore for silver medalists and ₹75 lakh for bronze medal winners representing India at the Olympics.
Further reinforcing this commitment, the Chief Minister in January 2025 handed over land allotment documents for 3,750 square feet plots at Harmu Residential Colony in Ranchi to Olympian hockey players Salima Tete and Nikki Pradhan.
The move fulfilled a long-pending assurance by the state government, recognising their contributions and enabling them to own homes in the state capital.
Apart from sports-related decisions, the Cabinet also took up the issue of age relaxation in the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) Civil Services Examination.
While the commission has set August 2026 as the reference date for determining age eligibility, the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms proposed August 2023 as the cut-off for age relaxation.
However, amid sustained student protests demanding August 2018 as the cut-off date — citing August 2017 as the benchmark used in the previous examination — the Cabinet decided to defer the proposal. The matter will now be reconsidered in the next Cabinet meeting.
Also read: Jharkhand BJP alleges ₹10,000 crore missing from exchequer
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