Haryana Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Anil Vij today criticised the previous Congress government in the State for allegedly announcing cash prizes for outstanding players without earmarking the budget for these provisions.
Vij, who was speaking at a function here, said that the present government has earmarked Rupees 80 crore to give away awards to outstanding sportspersons.
"As and when the Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar gets time, those players of Haryana who have won medals in Asiad and international events, would be honoured with cash prizes. Also, medal winners of national games would get Rs three lakh each," he said.
He said that a velodrom would be constructed in Kurukshetra.
The state government is also getting mapping done so as to set up stadia of international level depending upon the level of players in the game of their choice in respective area.
The work to construct a Rs seven crore shooting range has started at Rai in Sonepat district, he said.
He pointed out that now three Olympic Associations were active in Haryana and these were being dominated by politics thus adversely affecting the players.
He said, therefore, the Indian Olympic Association President N Ramachandran has been urged to abolish all the three Associations and instead make one Olympic association.
This new association should be free from pressure of any political leader, he said.
Notably, earlier this month, BJP Member of Parliament Dharambir Singh, took charge of the Congress-backed faction of Haryana Olympic Association (HOA).
Interestingly, the move to appoint Dharambir as HOA President came barely a fortnight after Haryana BJP MLA from Radaur constituency, Shyam Singh Rana, had constituted Olympic Association Haryana recently to take the reigns of sports activities in the state on the grounds that the athletes had been suffering.
