Badminton ace Saina Nehwal to get Rs 9 lakh for hiring physiotherapist

New Delhi: The Sports Ministry has sanctioned an amount of Rs 9 lakh to badminton star Saina Nehwal for hiring a full time physiotherapist till 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

The sanctioned money is for a period of 15 months, starting this month.

"The assistance will be utilized for payment of monthly remuneration to the Physiotherapist at the rate of Rupees Sixty Thousand per month. The selection of Physiotherapist has been done by Saina Nehwal herself," a ministry release said.

Saina, the London Olympics bronze medallist, has been selected under Target Olympic Podium (TOP) Scheme for financial assistance from National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) for Olympic 2016.

She is currently training in Bengaluru at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy at Karnataka Badminton Association and will continue train there till Rio Games.

The financial assistance from NSDF approved for the Physiotherapist, is out of the contribution made by the India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (IIFCL), under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative, to the Target Olympic Podium Scheme under the NSDF.

IIFCL has committed Rupees 30 Crore to MYAS for three years under its CSR initiative.