In a bid to boost the morale of Punjabi players participating in the Asian and Para Asian Games, the state government has granted ₹4.64 crore to 58 sportspersons for preparations, including 10 para athletes.
Punjab Sports Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer said that Punjab is working on leading the nation in sports and getting maximum laurels.
Cash prizes for the first time
“We have implemented a new sports policy at the grassroots level. We have given ₹8 lakh cash to each participating player. It is for the first time that cash prize money for preparation has been given to the players,” he said.
The minister declared that players who will win gold, silver, and bronze medals in the Asian Games would get ₹1 crore, ₹75 lakh, and ₹50 lakh, respectively, as prize money.
He further added, “The money will be a morale booster for players and we are sure that youth will turn to sports as a career. Punjab was a leader in sports in the country, but indifference to sportsmen welfare and facilities along with drug menace took the youth away from it in the last few decades.”
“Today, we want to use sports in a multipronged way to aid state youth. We are hopeful of leaving a mark on these games,” added Hayer.
ਹਾਂਗਜ਼ੂ ਵਿਖੇ ਅੱਜ ਤੋਂ ਏਸ਼ਿਆਈ ਖੇਡਾਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਹਿੱਸਾ ਲੈ ਰਹੇ ਭਾਰਤ ਦੇ 653 ਮੈਂਬਰੀ ਖੇਡ ਦਲ ਨੂੰ ਸ਼ੁਭਕਾਮਨਾਵਾਂ। ਪੰਜਾਬ ਦੇ 48 ਖਿਡਾਰੀ ਅੱਜ ਅਤੇ ਅਗਲੇ ਮਹੀਨੇ 10 ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਪੈਰਾ ਖਿਡਾਰੀ ਪੈਰਾ ਏਸ਼ੀਅਨ ਗੇਮਜ਼ ਵਿੱਚ ਹਿੱਸਾ ਲੈ ਰਹੇ ਹਨ। ਮੁੱਖ ਮੰਤਰੀ ਸ. ਭਗਵੰਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਮਾਨ ਜੀ ਦੇ ਨਿਰਦੇਸ਼ਾਂ ਉਤੇ ਬਣਾਈ ਨਵੀਂ ਖੇਡ ਨੀਤੀ ਨੂੰ ਲਾਗੂ ਕਰਦਿਆਂ… pic.twitter.com/8omMjjRNTf
— Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer (@meet_hayer) September 23, 2023
Also read: Punjab rolls out sports policy to boost infrastructure
Training principals to international standards
Meanwhile, continuing its effort to bring Punjab’s school education up to international standards, Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains, on 23 September, flagged off two more batches of 60 principals for training in Singapore.
Bains said, “They will receive specialised training at the National Institute of Education (NIE), Singapore, focusing on effective leadership skills, community involvement for school development and maintaining school discipline.”
Elaborating further, he said, “Apart from 100 headmasters already trained at Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad, 140 principals have benefited from foreign training programmes, which were conducted in collaboration with Principals Academy Inc, Singapore and NIE, Singapore, wherein the curriculum was focused on contemporary administrative and educational skills, including innovative teaching methods, mentorship etc.”
He highlighted that the state’s comprehensive training programmes, both within India and abroad, focused on enhancing their professional capabilities and introducing them to global best practices in school education.
