CM gives away Rs 14.77 cr to 21 medal winners

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today gave away cash rewards amounting to Rs 14.77 crore to 21 international medal winners at a function organised here today. He said that the state government was committed to rewarding the struggles of sportspersons and fostering a strong sports culture in the state.

Sukhu said, “My government has made an unprecedented increase in the prize money to encourage players and inspire the youth to participate in sports. The prize money for athletes overcoming physical challenges has been increased eightfold to bring it on a par with the reward for able-bodied players.”

He said that the prize money for gold medal winners in the Olympics, Winter Olympics and Paralympics had been increased from Rs 3 crore to Rs 5 crore while the silver and bronze medallists would now receive Rs 3 crore and Rs 2 crore, respectively. “For the Asian Games and the Para Asian Games, the prize money for the gold medallists had been increased from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 4 crore, from Rs 30 lakh to Rs 2.50 crore for silver medallists and from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 1.50 crore for the bronze medallists. The Commonwealth Games medallists will now get Rs 3 crore, Rs 2 crore and Rs 1 crore for gold, silver, and bronze medals, respectively,” he added.

The Chief Minister said that his government had also hiked the diet money for players. “The Under-17 and under-19 players now receive Rs 400 and Rs 500 per day for the state and national-level competitions as compared to Rs 150 and Rs 250 earlier. For under-14 players, the allowance has been increased to Rs 250 and Rs 400 from Rs 120 and Rs 250,” he added

He said that sportspersons staying in hostels were now getting Rs 400 per day. Besides, the government had also revised the travel allowances — players are entitled to the AC three-tier fare for distances up to 200 km and the economy class airfare for longer distances. Youth Services and Sports Minister Yadvinder Goma thanked the Chief Minister for increasing in the prize and diet money of the sportspersons.

• Paralympian Nishad Kumar: Rs 7.80 crore for a silver medal each at the Tokyo and Paris Paralympics

• Para athlete Ajay Kumar: Rs 2.50 crore for a silver medal in the Para Asian Games

• Weightlifter Vikas Thakur: Rs 2 crore for a silver in the Commonwealth Games

• Ritu Negi, kabaddi player from Sirmaur, got Rs 33.32 lakh for leading the Indian team to victory at the Asian Games, 2023

• Member of the kabaddi team Pushpa, Sushma Sharma, Nidhi Sharma and Jyoti also got the same amount

• Jyotika Dutta from Shimla district for fencing

• Diksha, Shalini Thakur, Priyanka Thakur and Nidhi Sharma from Bilaspur, Mitali Sharma, Bhavana and Menaka from Solan district for handball

• Anjali Devi for leading the country in the Asian Para Games in the Boshiya event

• Cricketer Renuka Singh Thakur, boxer Ashish Kumar and shooter Vijay Kumar

  Those Feted