Haryana Government will organise freestyle wrestling tournament ‘Bharat Kesri Dangal-2016’ at Tau Devi lal Stadium in Gurgaon from March 21 to 23 on the occasion of the ‘Shaheedi Diwas’ of freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru.
Addressing a news conference on Friday, Haryana Sports and Youth Affairs Minister, Anil Vij said this Dangal, which would be organised in association with Indian Olympic Association and Wrestling Federation of India, would carry the biggest rewards of all similar events in the country.
The wrestler who bags the top spot would be awarded Rs 1 crore. Similarly, the wrestlers bagging the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth positions would get Rs 50 lakh, Rs 25 lakh, Rs 10 lakh, Rs 5 lakh, Rs 3 lakh, Rs 2 lakh and Rs 1 lakh, respectively.
Vij said the winners of first, second and third rounds would be awarded Rs 7,100, Rs 11,000 and Rs 21,000, respectively. The winners of league bouts would also be awarded Rs 21,000. Apart from this, other participants would also be awarded.
The Minister said that to be eligible for participating in the competition, the wrestlers must weigh 80 kilogram or above and should be aged above 17 years as on January 1, 2016. He also released the criteria for the participants and details of application for participation.
The Minister said that International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FIlA) and Olympic Rules would be followed during the competition, which would be organised on mats.
Vij said that qualified officials would be deputed. The matches would be held in two rounds of three minutes with an interval of 30 seconds. All the participants would be divided into four groups on the basis of special seeding decided by technical officials. .
The Sports Minister said that relatives of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru would be invited for this event and they would also be honoured on this occasion.
He said that Sports and Youth Affairs Department would organise a Kabaddi tournament in September or October this year on the same pattern. A sum of Rs 1 crore would be offered as the first prize in this event as well, he added.
The Minister said that the Department had prepared a website which would be the first of its kind in the country on which data of all sportspersons would be made available online.
Replying to a question about prescribing quota for sports persons in recruitments of Haryana Civil Services and Haryana Public Service Commisson, he said that a scheme in this regard was being finalised.
On another question, he said that several complaints have been received regarding discrimination in jobs given to sportspersons by the previous Government. A policy in this regard would be prepared after investigation of the matter by a committee, he added.