Target Olympic Podium Scheme
Also called: TOPS · Topic: Civil Society, Pressure Groups, NGOs and Self-help Groups · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) is a Union government scheme that backs India's best athletes who have a real chance of winning an Olympic medal. The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports runs it through the Sports Authority of India (SAI). Selected athletes get paid-for coaching, training camps, equipment and money support. It is not set up by any law or article of the Constitution. It matters in GS-II because it is a clear example of a government policy for a sector: the state, not the athlete's family, pays for top-level preparation.
Example
Say a wrestler or shooter already wins at world-level events. Under TOPS, the government can pay for that athlete's foreign coach, a training stint abroad and better equipment before the Olympic Games. That way, money problems do not hold back a medal chance.
Don't confuse with
- Khelo India: a talent-identification programme that spots and trains young players, mostly at school age. TOPS works at the other end of the pipeline and supports athletes who are already near the podium.
- Mercedes-style junior programmes: these are run and paid for by private teams, like Mercedes signing a driver at age 12. TOPS is a public scheme paid for by the government.