Punjab to give cash awards to tune of ₹32.67 cr to Olympics players from state

Chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh will honour the players at a function in Chandigarh on August 12 , while governor VP Singh Badnore will be the special guest on the occasion

Sports minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi on Tuesday said the state government will honour Olympics medal winners and participating state players, besides gold medalist Neeraj Chopra, with cash awards totaling ₹32.67 crore at a special function in Chandigarh on August 12.

Indian women hockey team player Gurjit Kaur during an interaction with the media in New Delhi on Tuesday. (PTI)

In a press release, Sodhi said chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh will honour the players, while governor VP Singh Badnore will be the special guest on the occasion. The government had increased cash award for Olympic medallists to further promote sports in the state, he added.

He said against the earlier announcement of ₹2 crore, now the gold medal winner javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who has “deep roots” in Punjab, will be honoured with an increased amount of ₹2.51 crore. He said the cash award for 11 state players, who were part of the Indian hockey team that won a medal (bronze) after 41 years, has also been increased from ₹1 crore each to ₹2.51 crore each.

They include Manpreet Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Simranjit Singh, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh, Shamsher Singh, Varun Kumar, Dilpreet Singh, Hardik Singh and Krishan Pathak. He said that Reena Khokhar and Gurjit Kaur, members of women hockey team who got the fourth position, and discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur, who remained on 6th position, will be honoured with cash prize of ₹50 lakh each.

Similarly, boxer Simranjit Kaur, shooter Anjum Moudgill and Angadveer Singh, athletes Tejinder Pal Singh Toor and Gurpreet Singh and paralympic badminton player Palak Kohli will get ₹21 lakh each.