Sports Ministry sanctions Rs 4 lakh for Novy Kapadia’s medical expenses

Ailing sports commentator, Novy Kapadia, has been given the financial assistance from the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay National Welfare Fund for Sportspersons.

Published : Mar 16, 2020 18:21 IST

Novy Kapadia is popular for his anecdotal style of commentary.

The Union Sports Ministry on Monday sanctioned an amount of Rs 4 lakh to ailing sports commentator Novy Kapadia to meet his medical expenses. 

It had came to light of the Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju that Kapadia had not been receiving his pension from Delhi University, where he taught for 40 years. 

Speaking about the one-time financial assistance, Rijiju said, “Novy Kapadia has contributed to Indian sports for decades. When I got to know that his pension from Delhi University is pending and he is suffering from a rare autoimmune disease and needs urgent medical attention, we decided to give him immediate relief with this money. We are also following up with the Ministry of Human Resource Development to ensure that his pension comes through soon.”

READ: Veteran commentator and author Novy Kapadia unable to avail pension

Kapadia has been given the financial assistance from the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay National Welfare Fund for Sportspersons. “The earlier guidelines of the fund to provide financial assistance were rather restrictive. We have now made amendments so that assistance can be extended to more people who have served in the area of sport. Mr. Kapadia is one of the first beneficiaries of the new guidelines,” added the Sports Minister. 

The Sports Ministry is keen to assist other deserving sportspersons and those who have worked in the area of sport through this fund.