The Odisha Government revealed that it has spent an amount of Rs 4.09 crores on Dutee Chand for her training since 2015.
The statement came in reply to the image posted by Indian athlete a few days back of her BMW car which she wanted to sell as she had no financial assistance at the moment.
“The total financial support provided to Dutee Chand from State government/OMC is Rs 4.09 crore (after 2015),” a statement from the Department of Sports and Youth Services, Government of Odisha, said.
“Rs 3 crore as a financial incentive for medals won at Asian Games 2018; Rs 30 lakh for training and financial support during 2015-19; Rs 50 lakh for training support for Tokyo Olympics released in two installments,” the statement added.
Dutee, while talking to PTI, refuted the claims as she said “I am indebted to the Odisha government for supporting me all these years, but this Rs 4 crore does not show the correct picture. Everybody will start thinking that Dutee has spent so much money.”
“The Rs 3 crore is the prize money the Odisha government had given me for winning two silver medals in 2018 Asian Games. It is just like what a P V Sindhu or any other medal winner gets from the state governments like Haryana or Punjab. It should not be considered as financial assistance for training.” she added.
The Government also stressed on other claims that she gets Rs. 60,000 monthly from OMC which is not correct as she withdraws Rs. 84,000 per month from OMC.
Indian star sprinter said that she is not selling her car as the KIIT founder and Member of Parliament, Achyuta Samanta has assured her to give financial support needed for her training.
“I have been offered financial support by even Union Finance Minister (Nirmala Sitharaman) and sports minister (Kiren Rijiju). They called me a few days back but I have politely told them I will approach them when it is needed.”
“I took to social media to sell my car BMW. I don’t have the resources to maintain luxury cars, though I love them. I am not able to use the car and it is a spendthrift expense on my part. I never expressed that I am selling it to fund my training,” Dutee had said.
