India sent a much smaller team to the 2026 Asian Para Games and still won more medals. What does this suggest about elite sports policy in India? Examine the role of TOPS and Khelo India.

At the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games, India sent 168 athletes and won a record 114 medals, finishing 4th. At Hangzhou 2022 it sent 309 athletes and won 108 medals [1]. Medals per athlete nearly doubled, from about 0.35 to 0.68. This shows India moving from mass participation to targeted elite preparation.

What the result suggests about elite sports policy

• Selection over size: the para athletics squad was halved (123 → 62) but was still India's biggest medal source [1].
• Not purely efficiency: Asian Paralympic Committee quotas and dropped sports (chess, canoeing) shrank the team. India also chose not to enter taekwondo and rowing [1].
• Slowing absolute growth: medals rose by 6 in 2026, against 36 in 2022 [1]. India has a sharper elite, not a wider base.

Role of TOPS: the elite apex

• A separate Para Core group gives para athletes podium-focused funding: foreign training, sports science support and a ₹50,000 monthly allowance for core athletes [2].
• Limit: it reaches only a few dozen para athletes. Because only likely winners are sent, the next generation gets less international exposure.

Role of Khelo India: the pipeline

• It has a dedicated para-sport vertical. Each of the 2023 and 2025 Khelo India Para Games had more than 1,300 athletes [2].
• The revamped scheme (2026-31) has an outlay of ₹36,441 crore, which includes support to national sports federations [2].
• Gaps: Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha got no sports-infrastructure grants (Standing Committee on HRD, 2019) [3]. Money for barrier-free stadiums comes from SIPDA, which a different department runs [4].

Systemic weaknesses

• In 2025 a Parliamentary Standing Committee found that about 45% of SAI posts were vacant and some National Centres of Excellence were not running. Kit and nutrition stipends had not been revised for years, and National Sports Development Fund money had been diverted [5].
• Doping: three Hangzhou medals were later withdrawn [1]. Testing before selection is weak.

Way forward

• Fill SAI vacancies within six months and revise stipends, as the Committee recommended [5]. Add a higher rate for para athletes to cover equipment costs.
• Plan Khelo India and SIPDA funding together for each venue [4], and have the National Anti-Doping Agency test athletes before selection.

The 2026 haul shows TOPS and Khelo India working together as the apex and the pipeline. However, the gains come more from better selection than from a deeper talent base. Widening TOPS, fixing SAI's gaps and making venues barrier-free would turn efficiency into lasting strength. This is in line with the RPwD Act, 2016 and the inclusive vision of Khelo Bharat Niti 2025 [6].