The government approved the setting up of special sports nurseries equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, with a budget of ₹250 crore.
Published Aug 01, 2023 | 1:21 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 01, 2023 | 1:21 PM
Bhagawant Mann. (Twitter)
The Punjab government rolled out its ambitious sports policy on Monday, 31 July, to boost the sports culture of the state and to compete with neighbouring Haryana.
Aiming to usher youth into sports from a very young age, the state Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann approved the setting up of special sports nurseries in villages, each equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, at a budget of ₹250 crore.
There will be a provision of a one-time matching grant (maximum ₹10 lakh per village) of 25 percent of the total budget for the same.
Similarly, 1,000 cluster-level sports nurseries with better coaching, sports equipment and refreshments will be established along with sports hostels in each district of the state.
Punjab sports minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer said that Punjab was in dire need to draw youth to sports and the best way to do so was to upgrade infrastructure.
“Majority of the youth of the state have been away from sports for want of infrastructure and we will take it to their doorsteps. We will not just give infrastructure at the rural level but also provide better coaches. Sports will be a lucrative career option as we will provide better jobs and awards to sportsmen,” said Hayer.
According to the new policy, the provision of 500 posts in the special cadre has been prepared for the best medal-winning players including 40 deputy directors, 92 senior coaches, 138 coaches and 230 junior coaches.
It may be noted that currently, Haryana has 2,017 coaches while there are only 309 coaches in Punjab and as per the new sports policy there is a proposal of 2,360 coaches.
It was also decided to increase the prize money for the gold, silver and bronze medal winners of the Olympic games to ₹3 crore, ₹2 crore and ₹1 crore, respectively.
Now the medal winners of more than 80 sports competitions will get cash prizes. An amount of up to ₹15 lakh will be available for the preparation of international sports competitions.
Punjab will also start awarding the Olympian Balbir Singh Senior Coach Award for coaches and the Milkha Singh Award for sports promoters, ₹5 lakh each.
