Windfall for Haryana CWG medal winners

The 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games (CWG) medal winners from Haryana struck it rich Friday with the state government giving them cash rewards totalling Rs.13.72 crore.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda honoured the 20 players at a ceremony held at the Rajiv Gandhi Education City, Sonipat.

He also honoured 22 players with appreciation letters for taking part in the CWG.

Wrestling gold medal winners Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt, Babita Kumari, Amit Kumar and Vinesh Phogat received cheques of Rs.1 crore each.

A cheque of Rs.62.50 lakh was given to shooter Gagan Narang who has his family roots in Haryana. Even wrestler Sushil Kumar lives in Delhi but his family belongs to the state.

Hooda handed over individual cheques of Rs.50 lakh to wrestling silver medallists Sakshi Malik, Lalita, Satyavrat Kadiyan, Bajrang and Geetika Jakhar. Other silver medal winners -- Sanjeev Rajput, Anisha Sayyad, Gurpal Singh, Harpreet Singh (all shooting), Vijender Singh and Mandeep Jangra (boxing), Sardar Singh (hockey) and Seema Punia (athletics) also received the same amount.

Bronze medal winners Pawan Kumar (wrestling) and Pinki Rani (boxing) were each given Rs.25 lakh.

All players from the state who participated in the CWG got Rs.5 lakh each.

Speaking on the occasion, Hooda said Haryana's population is only two per cent of India's population, yet sportspersons from the state won 33 of the total 64 CWG medals.

"Earlier also, players from Haryana won one-third of the total medals won by India in the 2010 Delhi CWG and the Guangzhou (China) Asian Games held in the same year," he said.

The chief minister said the state government was encouraging youth to take to sports. He said medal winning athletes will continue to receive cash rewards and honours.