Minister presents cash awards to players

As many as 448 sportspersons, including eight international and 23 national-level athletes, with special recognition given to para-athletes, were awarded cash awards by Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Dr Mansukh Mandaviya in Chandigarh today. The UT Sports Department organised the felicitation ceremony at the Post Graduate Government College for Girls, Sector 42, which was also attended by Gulab Chand Kataria, Punjab Governor and UT Administrator.

Other initiatives included, launch of Chandigarh Marathon 2025 logo, and inauguration of two state-of-the-art Chess Centres at Sector 8 and Sector 39 Sports Complexes and a new Snooker and Billiards Hall at the Sector 42 Sports Complex.

A strategic memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the Department of Education, UT Chandigarh, and the Abhinav Bindra Foundation Trust, under the aegis of the FIVB Volleyball Foundation (Switzerland) to enhance volleyball infrastructure across 108 schools in Chandigarh.

Coaches in shock

Citing a dire need, the Administrator requested the minister for deploying coaches in the UT. With this, local coaches, who have not been awarded cash awards and whose cases for promotions are pending since long, including the appointment of District Sports Officer (DSO), were left in shock. However, the Director Sports cleared that by “coaches” it meant that coaches with international exposure under the National Centre of Excellence, as demanded from the sports ministry.

“Every district or two in larger districts, will have centres equipped with international-standard infrastructure, professional coaching and world-class training facilities. A National Sports Repository System will be launched to help track athletes from the school level, document their progress and enable targeted development along with promotion of the Khelo India platform,” said Dr Mandaviya. He assured full support to further enhance Chandigarh’s sports infrastructure.

“We will ensure that best coaches are available in Chandigarh. Furthermore, we will develop a multiplex sports infrastructure where multiple disciplines can be practiced within an integrated complex,” he said. Administrator Kataria claimed that Chandigarh was the first city in the country to distribute scholarships worth nearly Rs 20 crore among student athletes so far.

Scholarships amounting to Rs 1.32 crore were given to 320 athletes through an online platform in addition to cash awards of Rs 5.67 crore to 448 sportspersons, including eight international and 23 national-level athletes, with special recognition given to para-athletes for their exceptional contributions.