CISF unveils policy plan to prepare award-winning sportspersons

New Delhi, Jul 14 (PTI) The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on Monday said it is undertaking some important steps to train and prepare "high-performance" athletes and sportspersons who can fetch medals in various national and international events, including the Olympic Games.

About 1.80 lakh personnel-strength Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) is also in the process of recruiting its "largest-ever" sports contingent in a single go this year with 433 vacancies, including 229 reserved for women.

The force, which guards critical installations like airports and nuclear power centres, is buoyed by the fact that its athletes earned 159 medals in 2024-25, including 66 medals at the recently concluded World Police and Fire Games 2025 held at Birmingham in the US.

"This is the highest-ever medal tally in a year in CISF's history," a CISF spokesperson said.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) for Training and Sports Anil Damor said it is going to give a "major impetus" to nurture and motivate sporting talent in the force. "We want the CISF to be number one in sports," he said.

The spokesperson said the recruitment drive was launched on July 7 and it will continue till July 29 at 14 selection centres across the country.

The ongoing drive has garnered an overwhelming response of 12,868 applicants till now, which includes 350 international and 3,968 national medal winners, he said.

The CISF, post this hiring, is planning to raise 13 new teams for lawn tennis, badminton, karate, cycling, archery, fencing, kayaking, rowing, wushu, pencak silat, among others as part of the 'Khelo India' scheme of the Union government, the spokesperson said.

The force has also enhanced its annual sports funding by six times to Rs six crore per annum, 300 days of special diet allowance for athletes annually from the existing 200 days and enhanced travel and dearness allowance for them during camps and competitions, he said.

A special post of assistant inspector general (sports) has also been created at the CISF headquarters here for day-to-day monitoring and progress oversight.

"With the Olympics podium in mind, young, talented and promising sportspersons shall be identified as 'high-performance athletes' who can achieve a podium-level finish. These athletes will receive sponsorship for training camps abroad, which will be tailored," the spokesperson said.

An officer said the force has recently hired 10 physiotherapists for its sports teams, and seven out of these have been based at field formations, while three are based in Delhi. PTI NES MNK MNK