HI to give stipend to junior players

New Delhi, June 2
After announcing graded payment system for the senior team players, the Hockey India (HI) is set to provide a stipend of Rs 10,000 per month to the men and women’s probables in the junior India set-up.

“The modalities of the graded payment system has already been finalised. The highest bracket will be that of Rs 8 lakh.

But we always had this in mind that we need to provide financial assistance to the junior players both men and women,” HI secretary general Narinder Batra informed PTI.

“After discussions, we thought that each and every junior player will be provided Rs 1.2 lakh per annum (Rs 10,000/- pm). This money will be provided so that the players can buy their individual kits. The hockey sticks are costly and you require good shoes for playing on astro-turf,” Batra added.

However, the goalkeepers in the probables list don’t need to spend this stipend money for buying kits as HI will bear their expenses.

“For goalkeepers, the cost of the protective gears are very high. As for the other players, Rs 1.2 lakh is good enough to buy hockey sticks and shoes but for the goalkeepers, HI will buy their gears,” said Batra.

However, money will be deposited in corresponding player’s bank account on quarterly basis i.e. Rs 30,000 in every three months. “We have collected the bank account details of the players as well as their parents. In case of minors (some are below 18 years), we would deposit the money in their parents’ bank account.” — PTI