New Delhi, Dec 29 (IANS): Union Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore on Friday sanctioned ex-gratia assistance of Rs. 5 lakh to the family of Nitisha Negi, the teenage footballer who drowned in the sea at Glenelg beach in Adelaide, Australia, on September 10 this year.
The financial assistance was provided under the ‘Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay National Welfare Fund for Sportspersons'.
The main objective of the scheme is to provide suitable assistance to outstanding sportspersons living in indigent circumstances/injured during the period of their training for competitions.
Delhi's Nitisha had gone to Australia for the Pacific School Games, when she and four other teammates got into trouble.
It was uncertain whether the 15-year-old Nitisha was swimming, or had instead been on the rocks and slipped or was knocked over by a wave in the evening.