Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Thursday felicitated the mothers of the medal winners who participated in the Paris Olympics and Paralympics in 2024 during Veer Mata Jija Bai State-level felicitation ceremony in Gurugram.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that felicitation of the mothers of players who raised the Indian flag in the country and the world is a matter of pride. The ceremony is an opportunity to express gratitude not only to our players but also to their mothers.
Saini, while reminding the historical contribution of mothers, said that Mata Jija Bai, in whose name the ceremony has been organized, had prepared her son Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as a true warrior and leader. Due to her vision and hard work, the country got a great warrior like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, who laid the foundation of Swaraj at that time.
He said that Haryana has become the pride of the entire country in the field of sports. The players here are succeeding in the Olympics, Paralympics, Asian and Commonwealth Games. “We have made a sports policy called the 'Haryana Utkrisht Khiladi Seva Niyam 2021' to ensure employment for excellent players. Under this, 550 new posts were created in the Sports Department. Apart from this, 224 medal winning players have been given government jobs. Reservation has been provided to the players in direct recruitment of posts from Class I to Class II. Haryana is the first state in the country where highest cash prizes are given to the medal winning players. Apart from this, honorarium is also being given to 298 players who have performed excellently,” he added.
Saini said that scholarships are being provided to the medal winning students participating in state, national and international sports competitions. From the year 2014 till now, scholarships of more than Rs 53 crore have been provided to more than 29,000 students. The government has opened sports nurseries to hone the skills of sportspersons from childhood. At present, there are 1,489 sports nurseries in the state where 37,225 sportspersons are getting training. In these nurseries, players aged from 8 to 14 years and players aged from 15 to 19 years are being given incentives every month.
He said that 5 out of 6 medals in Paris Olympics-2024 have been won by the players of Haryana. In the Paralympics also, out of the 29 medals won by the country, 8 medals were won by the players of Haryana. Earlier, 30 players from the state participated in Tokyo Olympics-2020 where India won 7 medals, out of which 4 medals were won by the players of Haryana. Similarly, the players of Haryana also waved the Indian flag in the Commonwealth Games. 43 players from Haryana participated during the Birmingham Commonwealth Games-2022. In this, the players of Haryana won 20 medals. These achievements are the result of Haryana's farsighted sports policies.
