Reward money hiked for medal winners in nat’l, international games: Goma

The state government has increased the incentives for athletes, who win medals at national and international competitions, said Minister for Sports and Youth Services Yadvinder Goma while inaugurating the 21st All India Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar Memorial Volleyball Tournament in Panchrukhi on Friday.

Goma said that the reward for gold medal winners in the Olympics and the Paralympics had been increased from Rs 3 crore to Rs 5 crore. He added that the silver medal winners would receive Rs 3 crore (up from Rs 2 crore) while the bronze medal winners would be given Rs 2 crore (up from Rs 1 crore).

He said that for the medal winners of the Asian and Para-Asian Games, the award money had been raised. He added that the gold medal winners would now receive Rs 4 crore (up from Rs 50 lakh), silver medallists Rs 2.5 crore (up from Rs 30 lakh) while the bronze medallists would get Rs 1.5 crore (up from ?20 lakh).

Similarly, for the Commonwealth Games, the reward money for the gold, silver and bronze medal winners had been increased to Rs 3 crore, Rs 2 crore and Rs 1 crore, respectively.

Goma said that the state government had implemented the Himachal Pradesh Golden Jubilee Sports Policy, 2021, to recognise the important role of the youth in nation-building. As part of this initiative, 20 new stadiums were under construction at present at a cost of Rs 28.5 crore during the ongoing financial year to upgrade the state’s sports infrastructure.

Under the Chief Minister Yuva Khel Protsahan Yojana, Rs 15 lakh was being provided to develop sports grounds in each Assembly constituency and Rs 10.20 crore had been allocated for the scheme in the current financial year.

Key developments include the construction of a hockey astroturf at Majra in Sirmaur, a multipurpose hall at Sundarnagar in Mandi, an indoor stadium at Bangana in Una, a multipurpose hall at Pragpur in Kangra and an athletics track in Nurpur at a total cost of Rs 37 crore. Additionally, multipurpose sports complexes are planned at Hamirpur and Jaisinghpur.

The minister said that Rs 1.35 crore would be spent on organising sports and youth activities in the state. On December 5, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu would honour 21 outstanding players from Himachal, who had won medals in international competitions. Further, 889 players had received employment in various government departments, boards, and corporations under the state’s 3 per cent sports reservation policy, he added.