New policy to be made for national level players: CM Sukhu
Shimla, January 26: Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said here on Sunday that the state government will soon bring a new policy for national level players. He said this while addressing the contingent of players from the state who are going to participate in the 38th National Games to be held in Uttarakhand. The 200-member team of the state will participate in the National Games to be held from January 28 to February 14, 2025.
Wishing the players all the best, the Chief Minister said that the state government has taken several initiatives to promote sports and players. Basic sports infrastructure is being developed at the district level. Apart from this, the prize money for the players who perform well in international sports events has been increased significantly. The Chief Minister said that the prize money for gold medal winners in the Olympics, Winter Olympics and Paralympics has been increased from Rs 3 crore to Rs 5 crore. Similarly, the silver medal winners will get Rs 3 crore instead of Rs 2 crore and the bronze medal winners will get Rs 2 crore from Rs 1 crore.
The prize money for gold medal winners in Asian Games and Asian Para Games has been increased from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 4 crore. Silver medal winners will now get Rs 2.5 crore instead of Rs 30 lakh and bronze medal winners will get Rs 1.5 crore instead of Rs 20 lakh, while gold medal winners in Commonwealth Games will get Rs 3 crore instead of Rs 50 lakh, silver medal winners will get Rs 2 crore instead of Rs 30 lakh and bronze medal winners will get Rs 1 crore instead of Rs 20 lakh.
Emphasizing his commitment towards the welfare of sportspersons, the Chief Minister said that he too has been associated with sports and the needs of sportspersons cannot be ignored. He said that earlier, under-17 and under-19 players used to get Rs 150 as diet money for state level competitions and Rs 250 for national competitions. The present State Government has increased this amount to Rs. 400 and Rs. 500 respectively.
Similarly, the diet money for under-14 players for state level competitions has been increased from Rs. 120 to Rs. 250 and for national level competitions from Rs. 250 to Rs. 400. The diet money for players staying in sports hostels has also been increased from Rs. 150 to Rs. 400. Besides, players participating in competitions held outside the State will now be given AC three-tier rail fare for a distance up to 200 km and economy class air fare for a distance of more than 200 km.
Deputy Chief Whip Kewal Singh Pathania, MLAs Harish Janartha and Baba Hardeep Singh, Principal Advisor (Media) to the Chief Minister Naresh Chauhan and representatives of various sports organisations were present on the occasion.