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Govt coffers open for promoting sportspersons: U.P. CM
The U.P. govt will give big prize money to medal winners in international sports events, says CM Yogi Adityanath
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has said the state government has kept its coffers open for the development of sports and promotion of sportspersons. “Approval has been given for appointment of medal winners in the Olympics, the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games as gazetted officers in the state government services,” he said.
Speaking at a wrestling event organised on Gorakhnath temple premises on the occasion of Nag Panchami on Tuesday, Yogi said, “After 2014 under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sports and sportspersons have got encouragement in both urban and rural areas under the ‘Khelo India’ campaign. Today, our players are proving their talent at the international level.”
“The government has taken several measures to motivate the youth to take interest in sports. Playgrounds and open gyms have been developed in each village. Stadiums and mini stadiums have been built at the district level. At present, 77 stadiums, 68 multi-purpose sports halls, 39 swimming pools, 2 international cricket stadiums, 14 synthetic hockey grounds, 36 gyms, 3 synthetic running tracks, 19 dormitories, 16 basketball stadiums, 11 wrestling halls and 11 weightlifting halls are being built in Uttar Pradesh,” the CM added.
“Training is being imparted in 16 sports through three sports colleges and 44 sports hostels. Players’ allowance for national championship has been increased from ₹1,000 to ₹25,00,” he said.
The CM further said the state government will give big prize money to medal winners in international sports events. ₹6 crore will be given to each gold medallist, ₹4 crore to silver medallist and ₹3 crore to bronze medallist in the Olympics singles events. In the team event of Olympics, the amount will be ₹3, ₹2 and ₹1 crore respectively. The Asian Games gold medallist will get ₹3 crore, silver medallist will get 1.5 crore and bronze medallist ₹75 lakh, he added.
In the Commonwealth Games and World Championships, ₹1.5 crore will be given to gold medallist, ₹75 lakh to silver medallist and ₹50 lakh to the bronze medallist. Similarly, in South Asian Games, gold medallist will get ₹6 lakh, silver medallist ₹4 lakh and bronze medallist will get ₹2 lakh. In the team event, the amount will be ₹2 lakh, ₹1 lakh and ₹50,000 respectively, the CM said.
“The state government has decided to give an incentive of ₹10 lakh to the players from the state participating in the Olympics and ₹5 lakh each to the players participating in the Asian and the Commonwealth Games,” he said.
“The state government has announced financial assistance of ₹20,000 per month for the sportspersons from U.P. who have received the Arjuna Award, the Dronacharya Award, the Khel Ratna and the Padma awards in the field of sports. The financial assistance of ₹10,000 per month has been sanctioned to international level players in distress, ₹6,000 to national players and ₹4,000 per month to state level players,” Yogi said.
“To encourage sportspersons, the government gives Laxman Award in the male category and Rani Laxmibai Award in the female category. Under this, a cash amount of ₹3.11 lakh is given to the players along with bronze statues of Lord Laxman and Rani Lakshmibai,” he added.
“The diet money of the players has been increased from ₹250 to ₹375 per day. To prepare international level players, approval has been given to keep 50 international players as coaches on an honorarium of ₹1.50 lakh. Along with increasing the grant amount for the players, Eklavya Sports Fund has been established,” the CM said.
“To promote sports, a provision of ₹8.55 crore has been made in the current financial year by promulgating the Sports Development and Promotion Rules 2020. The state government will give ₹5 lakh for district level sports competitions and ₹15 lakh for the division level competition,” he said.
“Uttar Pradesh’s first sports university is being constructed in Meerut. The process of setting up “Khelo India” centre under “one district one sport” scheme is being taken forward. The state government is also giving facilities and assistance to the differently-abled players,” the CM added.
On the occasion, he also felicitated Bhagat Singh Yadav who won “Gorakhpur Kesari” title, Anil Yadav, who won “Gorakhpur Kumar” title and Janardan Yadav who won “Gorakhpur Veer Abhimanyu” title.
