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Olympians from Punjab honoured, 20 players handed ₹28.36 cr
Clad in red turban, Indian men’s hockey team captain Manpreet Singh was cynosure of all eyes during the glittering felicitation function organised by Punjab government to honour state athletes who participated and won medals at the Tokyo Olympics 2020, at the Punjab Bhawan in Chandigarh on Thursday evening
Clad in red turban, Indian men’s hockey team captain Manpreet Singh was cynosure of all eyes during the glittering felicitation function organised by Punjab government to honour state athletes who participated and won medals at the Tokyo Olympics 2020, at the Punjab Bhawan in Chandigarh on Thursday evening.
From village Mithapur, Manpreet, who is a DSP with Punjab Police, not only fetched cash prize of ₹2.5 crore but was also promoted to the post of superintendent of police. Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh announced this during the function.
A beaming Manpreet said, “Thanks to the Punjab government for appreciating our efforts. We will work harder in the coming months towards securing medals in the upcoming World Cup, Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games. It is a huge encouragement when your state recognises sportspersons’ efforts and looks after their requirements.” The cash reward for 11 players from the state, who were part of the Indian hockey team which won a medal (bronze) after 41 years, was increased from earlier announcement of ₹1 crore to ₹2.51 crore each. Apart from Manpreet, vice-captain Harmanpreet Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Simranjit Singh, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh, Shamsher Singh, Varun Kumar, Dilpreet Singh, Hardik Singh and Krishan Pathak from Punjab were honoured with ₹2.51 crore each.
Nine other athletes were also felicitated with cash awards during the function. Hockey players Reena Khokhar and Gurjit Kaur, and discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur, who took sixth position, were handed over ₹50 lakh each. Boxer Simranjit Kaur, shooters Anjum Moudgill and Angadveer Singh, athletes Tejinder Pal Singh Toor and Gurpreet Singh, and paralympic badminton player Palak Kohli were given ₹21 lakh each.
The Punjab chief minister assured government jobs to all athletes present during the function.
A cash award of ₹2.51 crore was also announced for gold medallist Neeraj Chopra, who has roots in Punjab. Earlier, government had announced ₹2 crore cash reward for the javelin thrower. The 23-year-old athlete from Haryana could not make it to the function.
Punjab chief minister announced that the state government would soon work out modalities for providing jobs to the medallists and asked the state chief secretary to examine the matter on priority before taking a final decision.
The chief minister, along with the Punjab governor VP Singh Badnore, also transferred the cash prize money online in the accounts of the players. The women hockey players presented a hockey stick to the chief minister with signatures of the entire team members.
In recognition of the stupendous performance of state players in Olympics, Captain Amarinder announced to name the schools and approach roads leading to players’ native villages after them.
The chief minister said that the upcoming ‘Maharaja Bhupinder Singh Punjab Sports University, Patiala’ will further boost sports in Punjab. He also asked the sports minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi to chalk out a blueprint for developing ultramodern stadiums for different sports in consultation with the players and their coaches.
While making a special mention of the hockey legend Balbir Singh Senior and iconic athlete Milkha Singh, he said, “Nobody would have been happier than these two stalwarts at this rare achievement, had they been alive today.”
Punjab governor appreciated the spirit of the players to join the police force and also made an offer to the willing players to join the Chandigarh Police.
Speaking on the occasion, sports minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi announced that the Punjab government would soon set up a hockey academy for women on the lines of Surjit Hockey Academy.
