The Puducherry government has made a comprehensive revision of sporting disciplines for inclusion in the authorised and valid list for the purpose of admissions to higher education institutions under the Meritorious Sports Persons Quota and for distribution of cash awards to medal winners in the Union Territory.

The list of sports disciplines eligible for reservation in admission to higher education courses and for cash awards has been scaled down to 35 from the earlier 65. The revision of the list was made to encourage genuine sporting excellence among sportspersons and to promote sports disciplines which have established participation among sportspersons, recognised competitive structure and functional ecosystem.

“We have issued necessary notification streamlining the admissions under sports quota and for grant of cash awards. There had been several complaints of misuse of the quota system and ineligible candidates benefiting from schemes linked to sporting arena. So, a decision was taken to rationalise and recommend the eligible sports disciplines to be considered for inclusion," said an official.

The list of sports disciplines has been revised so that the schemes benefit truly deserving athletes and that public recognition and reward go hand-in-hand with authentic sporting achievement. "All the 35 sporting events have been verified thoroughly to find the events’ local presence and a credible pathway from school, national and to international levels before their inclusion in the list,” said the official.

As per a government notification, the sports events included in the new list are Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Ball Badminton, Basketball, Boxing, Carrom, Chess, Cricket, Cycling, Deaf Sports, Fencing, Football, Gymnastics, Handball, Hockey, Judo, Kabaddi, Karate, Kayaking & Canoeing, Kho-Kho, Mallakhamb, Netball, Para Sports, Powerlifting, Roller Skating, Shooting, Swimming, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Volleyball, Weightlifting, Wrestling and Yogasana.

The revised scheme also retains strong support for coaches recognising their role in every athlete’s journey through a tiered incentive structure. All cash incentives to the coaches will be made through Direct Transfer Benefit scheme. Representatives of Puducherry Olympics Association and members of 15 sporting bodies met Lieutenant Governor K. Kailashnathan on Thursday to compliment the government for rationalising the sporting events in the Union Territory.

In a related decision, the government has evolved an Elite-Level Participation Incentive scheme, a first for Puducherry. For the first time, a sportsperson who qualifies to represent the country at the Olympic Games will receive a cash award of ₹5 lakh and ₹2.5 lakh for representing the nation at the Asian Games or Commonwealth Games. This incentive is simply for securing participation regardless of whether a medal follows.

Published - July 24, 2026 11:13 pm IST