Rs 2.5 crore for gold medal in Olympics: Haryana CM

New Delhi: Chief Minister of Haryana Bhupinder Singh Hooda today announced a cash award of Rs 2.5 crore for the state athletes who will manage to bag the coveted gold medal in any discipline at the London Games. Hooda also announced a prize money of Rs 1.5 crore and Rs 1 crore for silver and bronze medal winners at the London Olympics. In order to encourage youngsters to pick up Olympic sports, the Haryana Government has decided to award each and every participant at the London Games Rs 11 lakhs. [caption id=“attachment_392367” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Vijender Singh has a big prize awaiting him if he wins. AFP[/caption] Hoping to set an example, the Haryana government has also promised the same amount of cash bonanza for any Paralympian who will manage to win a medal in the London Paralympics, set to start from August 29th. This is a big leap from the sum of Rs 50 lakh that wrestler Sushil Kumar and boxer Vijender Kumar received on their Bronze medal winning effort at the Beijing Games. At an event organized here to conclude the Haryana Government initiated ‘BOL (Best of Luck) India’ campaign, Hooda reiterated the government’s commitment to encourage Olympic sports in the state. Out of the total 81 athletes from India in Olympics, 18 are from the relatively small state of Haryana. Among them are some of the major medal hopefuls such as Sushil, Vijender and ace shooter Gagan Narang. Out of the seven selected boxers for London Games, five are from Haryana and all the three players who have qualified in wrestling are from the state. Under the sports policy adopted by the state government, Hooda said winners of gold and silver medal in Olympics, Asian Games and medal winners in other international competitions are being given employment as per their capability. Under this policy the state government has given employment to 398 players so far. Hooda claimed that with a view to strengthen sports structure, 150 rural stadiums have been set up all over Harayana. Players honoured with Arjuna Award, Dronacharya Award and Bhim Award are also given Rs 5,000 every month by Haryana government. PTI