Punjab Government has finalised the names of 82 sportspersons from the State to be conferred with the state’s highest sports honour — the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Award. Besides, a proposal to include 12 Padma Shri, Arjuna and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratan Awardees from the state in this list has also been finalised.
The names have been approved by the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh while chairing the Award Apex Committee meeting with the state’s Sports Minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, Additional Chief Secretary (Sports) Sanjay Kumar, and Sports Director Amrit Gill, among others.
The decision would clear the backlog of the last eight years, since 2011. The award carries a cash prize of Rs two lakhs, along with a trophy of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, astride his horse, in a warrior’s uniform, with a blazer and a scroll.
Capt Amarinder also asked the Sports Minister to thrash out the modalities for setting up the Sports University and review progress regularly to ensure the project was completed within the prescribed timeframe.
The Chief Minister also gave his consent to flag off the full marathon dedicated to 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev, being organized by the Department at Mohali on March 31.
Punjab has always been at the forefront in making the nation proud with its sporting achievements in the international arena, Capt Amarinder said adding that he was confident that the state athletes would win many laurels at the forthcoming Tokyo Olympics.
Underlining the importance of a thriving sports culture, Capt Amarinder said that the ecosystem set up in the state with the upgradation of infrastructure in the last two years would be instrumental in nurturing the budding sports talent in the region. The state’s new sports policy had provided the much-needed thrust to nurturing budding players, he added.
Earlier, the Sports Minister apprised Capt Amarinder that only those candidates who represent the state in national and international competition were eligible for the Award, the only exception being in the case of public sector undertakings, or service employees who were unable to represent Punjab in national competitions.