Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs & Sports Shri Jitendra Singh has approved financial assistance of Rs. 60,500 (Rupees sixty thousand five hundred) from National Welfare Fund for Sportspersons to Ms. Shanthi Sondarajan, former athlete, who had won a silver medal in Asian Games 2006 at Doha, which was later withdrawn, as she was not found eligible to compete in female category because of female hyperandrogenism.
Recently, reports have appeared in a section of the media that she is living in indigent circumstances and was working as a daily wager at a brick kiln in Tamil Nadu.
Ms. Shanti Sondarajan has applied for pursuing a regular National Institute of Sports (NIS) Diploma in coaching at Bengaluru Centre of Sports Authority of India (SAI). Taking into consideration the poor financial condition of Ms. Shanthi Sondarajan, assistance of Rs. 60,500 has been sanctioned to her to meet expenditure towards fee, lodging & boarding, sports kit etc for undergoing NIS Diploma Course at SAI Centre, Bengaluru.