CruxNews
Raipur: “State Khel Alankaran Award 2018” ceremony was held in the state capital on Thursday at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Auditorium in medical college. Chief Minister Raman Singh felicitated sports stars and prize money of Rs 95 lakhs was distributed among players from all over the state.
Addressing the gathering Chief Minister said that the government is developing an action plan to promote sports in the state and provide the necessary facilities to the players. About 16 indoor stadiums and also some outdoor stadiums are being built in different districts of the state to encourage the players.
Singh said “I wish that the players in the state will reach the highest level and participate in Asian Games and the Olympics. Also, if state players participate and win medals in the Olympics, the state government will give them a reward up to Rs 2 crore. The players who go outside to play representing the state will be given an allowance of Rs 350 per day instead of Rs 100,” he said.
Sports Minister Bhaiyalal Rajwade said that the Chief Minister is playing well in the last 15 years. I congratulate all the players who have won awards. Those who did not get the medal, I ask them to prepare and work hard, eventually, they will be successful.
Numerous awards including Shahid Rajiv Pandey Award, Kaushal Yadav Award, Pankaj Vikram Award, Veer Hanuman Singh Award, and Shahid Vinod Choubey Award was given to the players in the ceremony.
Eight outstanding sportspersons including Dharmesh Gofane for archery, Johnson Solomon for fencing, C. Philip for rollball, Deepak Kumar for softball were honoured with Shaheed Rajiv Pandey Award.
In the Shaheed Kaushal Yadav Award, seven players including Diksha Chaudhary, Swati Sahu, Megha Singh, Vedika Kaushik, Yamini Banej, P. Ashish Kumar and Mohani were felicitated and given a prize money of Rs 1.50 lakh.
Thirty players from different genres were awarded Shaheed Pankaj Vikram award and were given a cash prize of Rs 25000 each. Similarly, five players namely Pankaj Kumar Satpathi, Mohammed Yusuf, Girish Lal Yadav, Om Prakash Singh, and Mitali Gosh were honored with Shaheed Vinod Choubey award and a cash prize of Rs 25000 each.
During the event, 371 players who won medals in the National Games were awarded a prize money of Rs 45.17 lakhs. Special awards were given to the first mountaineer of the state Rahul Gupta, Vikram Singh Sisodiya who have represented India in Common Wealth Games- 2018, hockey coach Bushan Sao and many outstanding sports personalities.
Softball Mens team (senior category) and Karate Girls team (junior category) were awarded ‘Mukhyamanti Trophy’ and cash prizes of Rs 5lakh and Rs 1 lakh respectively.
