The athlete’s father, who is the only earning member of the family, lost his job due to the pandemic and the family was forced to sell vegetables to make ends meet. Taking cognizance of the matter and looking at the financial situation of the family, Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju has sanctioned an ex-gratia financial assistance of Rs. 5 lakhs each to the athletes under the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay National Welfare Fund for Sportspersons.

Both brothers have won laurels for the country and state of Uttar Pradesh as well. While archer Neeraj Chauhan has won the silver medal in 50m in Senior Archery Championship 2018 and also a medal at the 65th National School Games 2020, his brother Sunil Chauhan has won the Gold medal at Khelo India University Games, 2020.

Boxer Sunil Chauhan has said the financial assistance from the ministry of sports will go a long way to help him and his entire family to deal with the situation created due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The sports ministry has further said that any sportsperson who is in financial need can apply for assistance through the Sports Ministry’s website or can also write to myasoffice@gmail.com.

Earlier too Sports Minister has helped athletes who are in need of financial support, for instance, when the 1998 Bangkok Asian games gold medalist boxer Dingko Singh needed support for his cancer treatment and had to be brought to Delhi for further consultations. It was the sports ministry along with the Boxing Federation who took care of everything for the former boxer.