File image of Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju (TOI Photo)

NEW DELHI: The Sports Ministry on Saturday announced its decision to do away with the Rs 2 lakh cap on the salary given to Indian coaches training elite athletes in a bid to encourage them to produce better results and attract former players to become high-performance trainers.
The announcement came after the ministry’s decision on Thursday to extend the contracts of all foreign coaches till September 30 next year and to make all future hiring — both Indian and foreign — for a four-year cycle in sync with the Olympics to ensure continuity.
“Several Indian coaches are showing very good results and need to be rewarded for their hard work. The government is also keen to attract the best coaching talent from across the country to train elite athletes and we do not want the cap on compensation to be a deterrent for good coaches to join,” Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said in a release.
The ministry release said the increased remuneration and longer contract period “is to attract ex-elite athletes into the high-performance sporting ecosystem, and to use their experience and skill to train athletes bound for major international competitions, including the Olympics”.
Eminent coaches already working in various Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) would also be allowed to join on deputation and be eligible for the four-year contract as well as the higher salary structure.
The remuneration will be decided on the basis of the ex-elite athlete’s performance as an athlete as well as his or her success as a coach.
“All new coaches and existing coaches who are given the new contract will be imparting training at national camps and SAI’s National Center of Excellence (NCOEs) and will be selected jointly by the Sports Ministry and the National Sports Federations,” the ministry’s release said.
Welcoming the move, chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand said: “This is a long-standing request of the sporting fraternity. I am very happy with the decision because it will give a great boost to the overall sporting ecosystem by attracting many talented coaches and eminent ex-athletes to join the profession.”
The Sports Ministry will also resume grassroot-level talent scouting with an eye on 2028 Olympics when the situation related to the COVID-19 pandemic improves.
The elite Indian coaches/ex-athletes, including those from the PSUs and leading sports promotion boards, will be part of the Talent Scouting Committee that will be touring various parts of the country to scout raw talent in the age group of 10-15 years.