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HP govt announces ₹1 crore award for hockey player Varun Kumar after Olympics bronze
Kumar, who hails from Dalhousie in Chamba district, will also be appointed as deputy superintendent of police, chief minister Jai Ram Thakur said
The Himachal Pradesh government on Friday announced an award of ₹ 1 crore for Varun Kumar after the Indian men’s hockey team won the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
Kumar, who hails from Dalhousie in Chamba district, will also be appointed as deputy superintendent of police, chief minister Jai Ram Thakur said.
“It is a matter of pride that the Indian team has won an Olympics medal in hockey after 41 years,” said Thakur, adding that the government had increased the cash prize for Olympic gold medal winners to ₹2 crore, ₹1.20 crore for silver medal winners and ₹1 crore for bronze medal winners.
Senior Congress MLA from Dalhouse, Asha Kumari, urged the CM to build a sports complex in the region.
She told the House that Kumar belongs to the Gaddi tribe of Chamba district and had won the Man of the Match award in the World Junior Hockey championship. She said that players have to go to Punjab for training and sport facilities should be developed in the state. Kumar’s family had also moved to Jalandhar a few years ago.
Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Rakesh Pathania said the state government will avail Kumar’s services in promoting Hockey in Himachal.
He said a ₹7-crore hockey astroturf was coming up at Nahan . “Hockey is popular in Nahan and Paonta Sahib and an international hockey centre is being setting up there,” he said.
