All 22 CWG medallists from Haryana will be given full prize money: Vij

The Haryana government has decided that all the 22 sportspersons from the state who won medals in the Commonwealth Games-2018 would be given cash prizes without any deduction.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has given his nod for the same, Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Anij Vij said here today.

Vij had on Wednesday proposed changes in the sports policy to ensure that no deduction is made from the prize money of the state's international medal winners and had forwarded the proposal to chief minister for approval.

The Haryana government had earlier stirred up a controversy when it decided to reduce the prize money for those Commonwealth Games medal winners from the state who were employed with other departments or states.

The felicitation function planned for the prize money distribution on April 26 had to be cancelled indefinitely when the athletes threatened to boycott it.

Courting yet another controversy earlier this month, the Haryana government had asked sportspersons employed by it to deposit one-third of their earnings from commercial and professional commitments to the state sports council but put the notification on hold after drawing sharp criticism from elite athletes.

Vij today said that the 22 sportspersons from the state had won medals in the Commonwealth Games held at Gold Coast, Australia, this year, and it was 33 per cent of the total medals won by the country.

Haryana players won nine gold, six silver and seven bronze medals in the Commonwealth Games, he added.

Vij said that as per the sports policy, the gold medallists from the state would be given class-A government job along with Rs 1.50 crore as award money.

The silver medal winners would be given class-B government job and an award money of Rs one crore and bronze medal winners would be given class-C government job and Rs 50 lakh as award money.

Each participating sportsperson would also be provided Rs 7.5 lakh as incentive money, he said.