Punjab Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Investment Promotion, Labour, Hospitality, Industry and Commerce and Rural Development and Panchayat Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond has praised the efforts of the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann for the welfare and upliftment of sports and sportsmen.
Participating as the chief guest in the prize distribution ceremony of Sub-Junior Hockey National Championship at the hockey stadium in Sector 42 here, Sond said that along with other sports, the Punjab government is making special efforts for the national sport of hockey.
He said that, recently 11 players of Punjab were given job letters as PCS and DSP included hockey players who have won gold medal in the recently concluded Asian Champions Trophy and bronze medal in the Olympic Games. He said that Punjab had made a new sports policy in 2023 and fruitful results are coming out now.
He further said that the state players are given cash for preparation for national and international competitions. Moreover, the Punjab government is also giving cash prizes to medal winner players. Sond said that the Punjab government has distributed a total amount of Rs. 12.50 crore to 19 Punjabi athletes of the Paris Olympics during an impressive function recently.
Among them, 10 players were members of the Indian hockey team that won the bronze medal.Apart from this, the Punjab government has honored 32 Punjabi sportsmen who won medals in the Asian Games with an amount of Rs. 29 crore 25 lakhs. 136 athletes from Punjab who won medals in the National Games were also honored with a cash prize of Rs. 4 crore 58 lakh, he added.
He further said that during the last two and a half years, Mann government has distributed prize money of Rs. 88 crore to the state players. He said that sports culture is being promoted in the state to produce more international level players. Every year, Punjab Govt. is organising 'Khedan watan Punjab Diyan' to produce more national and international players.
The third season is currently underway. He said that nearly 4.5 lakh players had participated in the second season of Khedan watan Punjab diyan. Rs. 8.69 crores were transferred online to around 11,000 winning players. Sond encouraged boys and girls of Punjab to participate in sports.