<span style="color: #222222;">Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur has said that his Ministry, National Sports Federations, NSFs and Sports Authority of India, SAI are working in close coordination for Indian teams and sportspersons for preparation of forthcoming Asian Games scheduled to be held in September-October this year and next year's Paris Olympics. <br />''<br />''In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, Mr Thakur said, Government is providing all requisite support and facilities to the athletes to enable them to do their best in the forthcoming Asian Games and 2024 Olympics. He said, high priority category has been created to put focus on and incentivize those sports disciplines included in the Olympics in which India has won medals in the last conducted Asian Games as well as Commonwealth Games or in which India has good chance of winning medals. <br />''<br />''The Minister said, customized training as per the requirements of individual athletes is being provided under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme, TOPS. He said, his Ministry is providing financial assistance to recognized National Sports Federations towards training of athletes. This includes all requisite facilities for their preparations including wholesome nutritious diet, food supplements, equipment support, state-of-the-art infrastructure, lodging, travelling facilities, services of reputed Indian and Foreign Coaches or supporting staff, scientific and medical support, sports kit, etc. besides financial assistance for their training abroad and participation in international competitions in India and abroad through the Scheme of financial assistance to NSFs. <br />''<br />''Mr Thakur said, for the purpose, an Annual Calendar for Training and Competition budget is approved for each NSF every year. He said, elite athletes are selected and provided with financial assistance like out of pocket allowance OPA, equipment support, coaches etc. under the TOPS. The Minister said, TOPS which was started in 2014, is the main scheme for preparation of the elite athletes who are the medal prospects for Olympic Games, Paralympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. <br />''<br />''He said, TOPS is a flexible scheme under which support is provided keeping in view the specific requirements of training and equipments of individual athletes. Mr Thakur said, selection of athletes for inclusion in TOPS is done by the Mission Olympic Cell MOC, following a rigorous process keeping in view performance of athletes vis-à-vis international benchmarks. He said, apart from support for customized training, out of pocket allowance of 50 thousand rupees per month is made to each of the athlete included in the TOPS. <br />''<br />''The Minister said, at present, 98 individual athletes and both Men and Women hockey teams as core group have been selected under the scheme. He said, Youth Affairs and Sports Ministry has started the TOPS Developmental Group in October 2019 for preparation of identified young talented sportspersons. Mr Thakur said, to ensure a focused approach in India's Olympic preparation, identification of 165 best sporting talents has been completed. The TOPS Development Group athletes are paid OPA of 25 thousand rupees and customized training support at the National Centres of Excellence of SAI. The Minister said, performance review of all athletes included in TOPS is carried out periodically on a regular basis and athletes whose performance is found to be below the set benchmarks are weeded out.</span><br />