Chandigarh: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday announced that a cash reward of Rs 50 lakh would be given to each sportsperson of the state who stood at the fourth position in the Olympics.
The Chief Minister said that according to the Sports Policy of the State, there is a provision to give incentive money to the players who cannot win medals in these games. As per this provision, each player participating in the Olympic Games is being given an incentive amount of Rs 15 lakh each.
He said that an amount of Rs 5 lakh is already given to these players prior to the Olympics and now the rest of the amount of Rs 10 lakh would be given to the players on their return after the completion of the Olympics.
Addressing a press conference in Rohtak, Mr Khattar said that in the Sports Policy, a provision has been made to give Rs 6 crore to a player who wins gold medal in Olympic Games, Rs 4 crore to a player wins silver medal and Rs 2.5 crore to a player who wins bronze medal.
Though till now, in this Policy, there was no provision for giving a cash reward to players who were at fourth place in the Olympic Games, but from now onwards a cash reward of Rs 50 lakh will be given to each player of the state who finished fourth, he said.
The Chief Minister further said that the state government would also be honouring the players who win any medal in Olympic Games.
He said that the Indian men’s hockey team has brought laurels to the country after 41 years by winning bronze medals. It is a matter of great pride that two players from Haryana were part of this winning team, he said.
Khattar said that the women’s hockey team also played the match for the bronze medal with bravery. Nine players of Haryana played in this team and a cash reward of Rs 50 lakh each will be given by the government to all these nine players, he added.
He said that Haryana’s wrestler Ravi Dahiya has brought laurels to the country and the state by winning silver medal in the Olympic Games.
He wished wrestler Bajrang Punia all the best in the match for the bronze medal and hoped that he would win a bronze medal for the country.
Khattar said that while promoting sports facilities in the state, the state would be made a sports hub. Despite having only 2 per cent of the country’s population, about 25 per cent participation is from Haryana in the Olympic Games, which is a matter of pride.
He said that winning and losing is not important in sports, but it is important to play with passion for the country. Sports facilities will be promoted in all the rural stadiums of Haryana.
To promote sports in the state, the number of sports nurseries will be increased. In these sports nurseries being already run by the government good diet, coach facilities and basic infrastructural facilities are being provided to the players, he informed.
Responding to a question regarding renaming the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award as Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award by the Central Government, the Chief Minister said that this move would encourage the players. Central Government has renamed Khel Ratna Award after the player who has achieved a distinguished achievement, he added.
