Bengaluru, Aug 21 (IANS): Just five days after Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced plans to groom 75 sportspersons for the next Olympics, Karnataka has begun taking concrete steps in the direction. A high-level committee was constituted Friday by the Karnataka government to identify the potential medal winners for participating in the 2024 Athens Games.

In this regard, a government order approving the Amrith Sports Adoption scheme that the chief minister had announced on Independence Day.

Youth empowerment and sports minister K.C. Narayana Gowda heads the committee which includes senior officials apart from the Karnataka Olympic Association chief.

The eight-member committee also has three sports personalities in the form of Arjuna awardees, hockey player V.R. Raghunath, badminton player Anup Sridhar, and swimming coach Nihar Ameen who is a Dronacharya awardee.

The 75 selected sportspersons will be awarded Rs 5 lakh towards expenses such as training, supplements, and sports kit.

The committee will go about its task of talent identification in a scientific manner, according to Gowda. The state government is aiming to bag the highest medal winners for the country in the next Olympics, he said.