“The Punjab Government has increased the prize money for the medal winners at the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games from Rs. 25 lakh to Rs. 1 crore besides providing for their free training. A State of the art hostel at Mohali has come up for the 500 players. Other states of the country are coordinating with the Punjab Government for implementing the pro-player Sports Policy of Punjab.” This was disclosed here today by the Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi while interacting with the mediapersons after dedicating to players of Punjab, the Charan Ganga multipurpose outdoor stadium.The minister also divulged that skilled coaches from outside are being hired by the Sports Department and the present coaches are going for the upgradation of their skills. He also disclosed that those players of Punjab who had migrated to the other states, have also come back. He further divulged that the State Government has distributed prizes worth Rs. 18 crore to its players while disbursing at State level Rs. 4.50 crore.
The minister accompanied by the higher officials also visited the stadium.Rana Sodhi said that the stadium would provide a major boost to the players and sporting activities in the region. He also assured that other facilities such as Levelling of ground, Air Conditioner, and Gym would also be made available. He further elaborated that open gyms would be installed throughout Sri Anandpur Sahib. He reiterated that there is no dearth of funds at the disposal of the Sports Department for boosting sports infrastructure in Punjab.Earlier, the minister paid obeisance at Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib where he was honoured.Among other people present on the occasion included the Deputy Commissioner Mr. Sumit Jarangal, SSP Mr. Swapan Sharma, SDM Kanu Garg, DSP Davinder Singh, Director Sports Mr. Rahul Gupta, Executive Engineer Sports Mr. Sanjay Mahajan, Deputy Director Youth Services Mr. Mantej Singh Cheema, District Sports Officer Mr. Sheel Bhagat, Naib Tehsildar Mr. Surinder Pal, SHO Mr. Rajpal Singh Gill, and Personal Assistant to the minister Mr. Balkar Singh.