Field composites

Composite 01 · Wrestler

Priya 19 years · Haryana akhada → SAI NCOE

The stipend on paper is the published Khelo India junior-tier annual support of ₹6.28 lakh, including a monthly Out-of-Pocket Allowance of ₹10,000. The lived reality, as modelled from reported athlete experiences across multiple Haryanvi NCOE-tagged cohorts, is that the OPA arrives in lumpy quarters — sometimes two months late, occasionally a full quarter.

The akhada coach handles escalation. The family does not call directly. The nutrition arithmetic for a 65 kg senior-bracket wrestler in active training is closer to ₹7,500–₹9,500 per month than the OPA-implied line item. The gap is absorbed by household income, family loans, or simply by smaller meals.

Failure mode: delay and insufficiency
Composite 02 · Archer

Sanjay 17 years · Tier-3 state pipeline

Selected mid-2024. The scholarship structure on paper covers stipend, kit, training-camp travel, and competition exposure. The composite-modelled friction is the gap between announcement-day visibility and the slow administrative drift that follows.

In the composite, the equipment grant is approved on paper and delayed in delivery. The athlete competes at the next Junior Nationals with the previous season's gear. Stipend payments slow in early 2025 and then stop. No formal removal letter. No update to the published scholar list. The reimbursement queue does not move.

Failure mode: drop-off without notice
Composite 03 · Para-Javelin

Anitha 22 years · NCOE para-pipeline

Enters the NCOE pipeline after Khelo India Para Games qualification. The Khelo India scholarship structure applies equally on paper. Three structural items from the modelled scenario surface the operational gap:

  • The hostel accessibility audit under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 is not published — making compliance unverifiable from outside.
  • Running-grade prosthetic cost: ₹2.8–3.2 lakh per replacement on a 3-year competitive lifecycle. Disbursement formula: one-time grant of approximately ₹1.2 lakh. Annual able-bodied junior-tier stipend: ₹6.28 lakh. The cost-curve mismatch is structural, not individual.
  • Foreign exposure information typically flows through the able-bodied roster first; the para-roster is informed on a separate, later cycle.
Failure mode: structural exclusion