- NET Web Desk
With India’s shining scorecard at Olympics 2021 and overall achievements of the discipline improving, national enthusiasm around sports of different kinds have gone up. The sports discipline has been witnessing and gaining befitting attention which was long overdue.
In an effort to support the growing interest, the Meghalaya Chief Minister – Conrad Sangma on Wednesday distributed cash awards, amounting to over Rs 81 lakh, to 231 sportspersons of the state.
During the ‘Felicitation of Sports Achievers at Regional, Zonal, National and International Level Competitions 2017-2018’ on Wednesday at the U Soso Tham Auditorium, nearly 73 sportspersons were awarded for Olympic disciplines, and 158 people were awarded for non-Olympic sports disciplines.
Addressing the function organized by the Department of Sports and Youth Affairs of Meghalaya, Sangma introduced a ‘Cash Award Scheme’ to recognize the accomplishments of sportspersons at the regional, national & international competitions and to provide athletes with financial assistance, in order to meet their needs for better training.
This scheme aims to encourage sportspersons to work harder for greater achievements in the higher-level competitions like the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, World Championships and Olympics and many others.
It will motivate the players to prepare themselves better for selection into national teams to represent the country and prepare them for higher awards meant for international competitions like Asian Games, Commonwealth games, World Championship, etc.
Speaking on the occasion, Sangma emphasized that, “Indian sportspersons have been excelling at international arenas. As we engaged with the youth through the Sports program, we found about 7-8 youths among 300-500 participants who met international standards and were in the ‘Super Elite’ category, despite no professional training, diet, even to the extent of some not even having shoes, running bare feet but proving to be just as efficient.”
“This only shows their immense talent that needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and supported. This program is part of a bigger goal, and so are the many other programs that will focus on different talents from academics to music and many more. By mid-August we would like to distribute the first set of cheques and will continue to be distributed, to provide funds for the youth to allow them to follow their passion and prosper. With a youth led population in Meghalaya, the State Government is aligned to build a strong foundation of guidance, support, and resources which will help bring out more hidden stars who can further contribute to this discipline.” – he stated.
The state sports department had announced a cash reward of Rs 75 lakh for an athlete winning gold in the Olympics, Rs 50 lakh for silver and Rs 30 lakh for bronze.
Those winning podiums in world cups will take home Rs 30 lakh, Rs 20 lakh and Rs 10 lakh for gold, silver and bronze medals, respectively. In the national games, Rs 2 lakhs, Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 1 lakh are given for bagging gold, silver and bronze medals.
