Massive increase in cash awards for medal-winners

Shimla, February 17

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today announced a massive hike in cash awards for medal-winners in top competitions like the Olympics and the Asian Games. The cash awards for gold, silver and bronze medals in the Olympics were increased to Rs 5 crore, Rs 3 crore and Rs 2 crore, respectively. For the Asian Games, the cash awards would be Rs 4 crore for gold, Rs 2.5 crore for silver and Rs 1.5 crore for bronze. For the Commonwealth Games, the awards would be Rs 3 crore, Rs 2 crore and Rs 1 crore, respectively. “The hike in the cash awards is huge. In some sections, the award has been increased by 300 per cent to 400 per cent to encourage the youth to take up sports,” said Sports Minister Yadvinder Goma.

Besides, the Chief Minister also announced that nine indoor multi-purpose stadiums would be constructed in the state. “The stadiums will be built in the first phase. The idea is to have a stadium in each Assembly constituency,” said Goma.

Besides, the players would be given the AC 3 tier fare to participate in sports events outside the state up to a distance of 200 km and the economy class air fare for travel to places more than 200 km away.