Rio 2016: Haryana govt to give Rs 15 lakh cash to Olympic-bound athletes

Chandigarh: Haryana government will organize a special function to honour all the 22 sportspersons from the state, who have qualified to participate in Rio Olympics, where each of them will be handed cash award of Rs 15 lakh, said Sports and Youth Affairs Minister, Anil Vij. Vij said, “Olympic contingent comprise of 10 men and 12 women sportspersons from our state which is roughly about 21 percent. That’s a matter of pride for us.” [caption id=“attachment_2901058” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Rio 2016 Olympics logo. AFP[/caption] Vij hoped that they would give their outstanding performance. “All these players have been provided facilities under the new sports policy formulated by the state government,” he added. He said that those players who would bring laurels to the country and the state by winning medals in the Olympics, would be honoured with cash awards as per the new sports policy of the state government. Under the policy, cash award of Rs 6 crore is given for winning the gold medal, Rs 4 crore for silver medal and Rs 2.5 crore for bronze medal. Also, each participant gets Rs 15 lakh in cash as reward money.