E-Paper
U.P. government committed to providing jobs to young athletes, says Yogi
CM distributes appointment letters to 227 constables selected by police recruitment board under skilled player quota
Praising prime minister Narendra Modi for giving new impetus to sports and athletics in the country, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said his government was committed to giving employment opportunities to young athletes.
The CM on Saturday distributed appointment letters to 227 police constables selected under the ‘skilled player’ quota by the state police recruitment and promotion board, at Lok Bhavan here, according to a government communique.
Adityanath described the ‘Khelo India’ and ‘Fit India’ movements as “a new revolution in the country”, and said they’ve provided a new platform to young and talented athletes in the last two years, the statement said.
Yogi added sports grounds were being readied in every village panchayat at a war footing to encourage young athletes. He added the revenue department was performing land exchanges for the purpose, and the sports grounds were being established near schools.
“The construction of mini-stadiums at developmental blocks is currently underway in the first phase. Also, a stadium is being built in every district,” he said and listed the many programmes, including the formation of young welfare and women welfare committees in every village panchayat, being undertaken to promote sports among youths in the state.
“So far, sports kits have been provided to 65,000 youth and women welfare committees; and various efforts are being made to enhance facilities for athletes and encourage them at every level.” He mentioned that Uttar Pradesh was the first state in the country to honour paralympic athletes with cash rewards.
The CM said with the aim of facilitating the recruitment process and considering the passion of young athletes, the mandate of the personnel department was amended and, as a result, Uttar Pradesh Police has recruited the highest number of 579 athletes, the most by any Indian state, into the police force.
He added that under the schemes to promote sports in the state, Olympic athletes were being awarded a cash prize of ₹6 crore for winning a gold medal, ₹4 crore for a silver, and ₹2 crore for a bronze. Team event winners in the Olympic Games received ₹3 crore for gold, ₹2 crore for silver, and ₹1 crore for bronze, he added. In the Asian Games, gold medalists would be awarded ₹3 crore, silver medalists ₹1.5 crore, and bronze medalists ₹75 lakh, he added.
Similarly, gold medalists at Commonwealth Games and World Cup competitions got ₹1.5 crore, and silver and bronze medalists ₹75 lakh and ₹50 lakh, respectively. Moreover, athletes participating in the Olympics get ₹10 lakh, and those participating in the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games ₹5 lakh, he noted.
Deputy CM Brijesh Pathak, sports minister Girish Chandra Yadav, additional chief secretary-Sports Navneet Sehgal, DGP Vijay Kumar, and DG Special Prashant Kumar were present at the event.
