CHANDIGARH – Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal announced to give Rs 2 crore cash prize to each Olympic gold medal winner. He said this while felicitating five Punjabi players, who have been inducted in the Indian hockey team for London Olympic Games starting from July 29.
Punjabi players namely Gurvinder Singh Chandi (Jalandhar), Dharmvir Singh (Ropar), Gurbaz Singh (Zira) and Manjeet Singh (Jalandhar) have been included in the Indian squad while Sarwanjit Singh (Batala) has been kept standby.
Sukhbir, who is Sports Minister and president of the Hockey Punjab, said, “Punjabis have a great passion for hockey and always played a significant role in the Indian hockey team’s achievements at the international level.” He said India had won eight gold, one silver and two bronze medals in Olympics and one could never forget the deciding role played by Punjabi players. Punjab has the maximum five players in the Indian squad for London Olympics than any other state, he said, adding that in the last Olympics, India got the first individual gold medal and too was won by ace Punjabi shooter Abhinav Bindra.
The Deputy Chief Minister said the state government was committed to promote sports in the state at bigger canvas. He said the SAD-BJP government had set up 14 world-class stadiums with six hockey astroturfs, including two blue and pink astroturfs being used in the London Olympics.
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