Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday said that due to the best Sports Policy of the State Government, 33 per cent of the total medals in various sports events are being brought by players of Haryana.
Speaking at a function organized by Haryana Sports Development and Welfare Committee in Panchkula to thank the Chief
Minister for increasing honorarium of sports awardees, Khattar said that today the award money being given in Haryana is highest in the country and the world.
He further informed that the State Government gives a reward amount of `6 crore to the players who win gold medals in the Olympics, `4 crore to the silver medalist and `2.5 crore to the bronze medalist.
Besides this, due recognition is also given to winners who win medals in other championships too.
Union Minister of State of Jal Shakti, Rattan Lal Kataria, Vidhan Sabha Speaker, Gian Chand Gupta and Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs, Sandeep Singh were also present on the occasion and expressed their views during the event.
The Chief Minister said that January 12 which is the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda is celebrated as National Youth Day and this day symbolizes the fact that Youth is not known by their age group rather their work determines their real age. He said for those interested in education, a number of schemes for the education sector, skill development and employment are being run by the State Government. However, if anyone is interested in the field of sports, then they should be encouraged to showcase their talent.
The Chief Minister said that in the year 2008, an amount of Rs 5000 was given to the Arjun Awardees but now this amount has been increased to Rs 20,000.
Addressing various Awardees present at the function, the Chief Minister said that making a renowned player like Sandeep Singh as the Sports Minister of the State clearly shows the optimistic intentions of the State Government towards promoting Sports. He said that under the “Catch Them Young” Policy, more than 500 sports nurseries are being run across Haryana. These sports nurseries were started by the State Government with the aim of polishing the talent of players from an early age.