New Delhi, July 24 (PTI) Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore has sanctioned financial assistance of Rs. five lakh to former archer Ashok Soren after it came to light that he had been working as a daily wage labourer to sustain himself.

"The financial assistance has been given from Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay National Welfare Fund for Sportspersons (PDUNWFS). Shri Soren is currently living in Jamshedpur in indigent conditions," said the Sports Ministry in a release.

It was reported that Soren was working as a labourer under the government's rural employment guarantee scheme.

The 28-year-old Jamshedpur-based former archer had won two gold medals at the 2008 South Asian Games.

The Ministry had earlier approved a similar assistance for Arjuna awardee archer Limba Ram, who is suffering from a neuro generative disease.

Earlier this month, a grant of Rs five lakh was also cleared for ailing archer Gohela Boro.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)