In an attempt to boost sporting achievements from the state and encourage more youth to take up sports as a career, the Mahayuti government has made a vital decision to revise the Maharashtra sports policy. The core objective of revising the sports policy is to address both the financial (due to lower socio-economic background) and professional (anxiety and insecurity over pursuance of a sports career) challenges that often takes talents away from their sports. It was found that in many instances under the previous policy, jobs would be delayed for long times due to administrative hurdles. It also came to notice that the type of job offered to the athletes either did not match their ability or interest, or hindered their sports training and progress. On the other side, there were cases of faking certificates to get government jobs. The Devendra Fadnavis government has now decided to fix all lacunae that were present in the previous version. Provisions of 551 new dedicated sports posts have been made within the Maharashtra Sports Department to offer the champion athletes direct employment in their roles directly related to their sport, offering greater stability and motivation for their athletic careers. Other measures like Automated Digital Verification of certificates and streamlining of the recruitment procedure are also featured in the new policy.
New Policy and Dedicated Sports Posts for Athletes
During his first term as Chief Minister from 2014 to 2019, Devendra Fadnavis implemented several schemes, including offering government jobs to outstanding athletes who brought laurels to the state in various sports at national and international levels. Under these initiatives, athletes were appointed to a wide range of positions based on their educational qualifications. While a few top-performing athletes were placed in positions ranging from Deputy Collector to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DYSP), some were inducted into the Revenue and Forest Departments. There were also appointments to roles such as ‘Talathi’ (village accountant) or clerk across various departments. However, these jobs proved to be mismatched administrative roles for many athletes, completely separating them from their area of expertise. In the new solution, the state modified its deployment rules to prioritize placing athletes inside the sports department and created dedicated posts for them.
Approval for 551 Dedicated Posts For Athletes in the Sports Department
During a cabinet meeting held in June 2024, 127 existing ‘Sports Guide’ posts and 153 honorarium based posts were regularized, and 271 new posts were created, resulting in the approval of a total of 551 posts. Under this new policy, exceptional athletes will be directly appointed to positions such as Joint Director, Deputy Director, Sports Coach, Sports Development Officer, and Assistant Sports Development Officer.
All Previous Government Decisions Cancelled
The previous policy regarding the appointment of athletes across various government departments presented several practical challenges. Once appointed, athletes often struggled to find time for their training and participation in competitions. They also faced difficulties in completing the mandatory training, departmental examinations, and probation periods associated with their assigned posts. Taking these factors into account, the Mahayuti government revoked all prior decisions concerning the direct government appointment of athletes on July 9, 2024, and issued a revised policy for the direct recruitment of highly talented athletes into government service. This new policy assigns responsibilities to athletes based on their skills while simultaneously providing them with the opportunity to remain active in the sports arena.
Increase in players’ remuneration and cash prizes
There have been other important decisions as well by the Mahayuti governments towards encouraging the sportspersons for better performance. For example, in 2023, Devedra Fadnavis, then Deputy Chief minister, decided to scale up the monthly honorarium for the prominent title holding wrestlers in the Maharashtra Kesari Tournament and the national level tournaments like Hind Kesari and Rustom-e-Hind competitions by more than three times, from Rs 4,000 to Rs 15,000. Similarly, the state monthly honorarium was raised for the Arjun Khel Award winners from Rs 6,000 to Rs 20,000 and for senior athletes from Rs 2,500 to Rs 7,500. Later, in a cabinet meeting held in October 2024, a decision was taken to increase the cash awards for the medal winning athletes and their mentors/coaches in the international tournaments as given below:
Olympic and Paralympic games
Rs 5 crore for gold medal winners, Rs 3 crore for silver medal winners and Rs 2 crore for bronze medal winners. Cash award for their mentors/coaches @10% of the athlete’s prize money i.e. Rs 50 lakh, Rs 30 lakh and Rs 20 lakh respectively.
World Championships/World Cup tournaments
For the winners in the world championships/world cup tournaments, the cash prizes were set in the order of Rs 3 crore for gold medal winners, Rs 2 crore to silver medal winners and Rs 1 crore to bronze medal winners in the world championship meets, with awards for their mentors @10% of their prize money.
Asian Games
For the Asian Games, a Rs 1 crore award was set for the gold medal winners, Rs 75 lakh for the silver medal winners and Rs 50 lakh for the bronze medal winners, with cash prizes for their coaches @ 10 % of the athlete’s prize money, amounting to Rs 10 lakh, Rs 7.5 lakh and Rs 5 lakh respectively.
Commonwealth games
For the Commonwealth games, a cash award of Rs 70 lakh for the gold medalists, Rs 50 lakh for silver medal winners, and Rs 30 lakh for the bronze medal winners along with an award for their coaches @10% of the athlete’s prize money were announced.
The Mahayuti government 2.0, which came to power in 2024, has given substantial cash awards to athletes who have brought glory to the country and the state at the international level. Maharashtra athletes and their mentors who won medals in the Para Asian Games 2022 held in Hangzhou (China) were given prizes worth Rs 6 crore 94 lakh 37 thousand 500. Maharashtra’s supergirl Divya Deshmukh and her coaches, who achieved remarkable success in the Women’s World Cup Chess tournament, were awarded a prize of Rs 3.30 crore.
Additionally, following a government decision on August 28, 2025, cash awards totaling ₹28,68,17,500 were presented to athletes and their coaches for winning medals in various international and national competitions. Sonam Uttam Maskar, a silver medalist in ISSF World Cup 2024, received ₹2 crore, and her coach was awarded ₹50 lakh; meanwhile, Prathamesh Bhalchandra Phuge, a bronze medalist at the Asian Archery Championship, received ₹3 crore, and his coach was awarded ₹75 lakh. Furthermore, athletes who delivered outstanding performances in various sports during 2023 and 2024 received awards totaling ₹23 crore, with their coaches receiving ₹5.87 crore. Athletes who excelled at the 38th National Games held in Uttarakhand—308 in total—were awarded ₹20.93 crore, while their coaches received ₹1 crore 38 lakh 80 thousand.
Through these decisions, Devendra Fadnavis’s Mahayuti government is sending a message to the society of its resolve to lift Maharashtra on the sports map by providing the necessary support to the athletes in the state to excel in their sports and honour their hard work and achievements at the national and international levels. Even after their sporting career, the athletes will be able to serve the state with their expertise.
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