Sports Ministry holds its first Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) meeting outside Delhi

Tags: Sports Sports News

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) organised its first Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) meeting on January 19 and 20 outside Delhi and during the Hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

An overview of the news

• The MOC members met to discuss the major agenda of India's Olympic program and proposals for the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) athletes.

• The Indian men's and women's hockey teams are the only teams that are funded under MYAS's TOPS Scheme and get an annual expenditure of Rs 24 cr under Sports Authority of India's (SAI) Annual Calendar for Training and Competitions (ACTC) scheme.

• Normally, MOC members from all over India visit Delhi every month to discuss agenda related to TOPS.

• During the outbreak of COVID-19, the meetings were conducted through a video conferencing so that the athletes do not suffer due to the delay.

• After the lockdown, the meetings have adopted a hybrid approach where one meeting a month is held virtually, while the other is held as a physical meeting.

Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) 

• It was created in July 2014 under the auspices of the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) with the objective of identifying and preparing potential medal prospects for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

• It is a flagship program of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

• The idea of the scheme is to look to the future and fund a developmental group of athletes who have the potential to bring medals to the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024 and Los Angeles in 2028.