Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday met India’s woman cricketer Harmanpreet Kaur, who hails from Moga, to formally kickstart the process of her induction into the Punjab police force as a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP).
Chief Minister directed the State Director General of Police (DGP) Suresh Arora to complete the necessary formalities for Harmanpreet’s appointment saying that her training could be completed later.
“I wanted to keep the talented young woman, currently working in the Union Railways Ministry, in Punjab,” said Capt Amarinder.
Capt Amarinder assured Harmanpreet that he would take up the issue of waiver of her employment bond with the Railways Ministry so that she can join Punjab Police at the earliest, while continuing to pursue with her career as a cricketer.
lauding her performance, Capt Amarinder handed over a cheque for Rs five lakh to Harmanpreet while expressing the confidence that she would perform even better going forward.
“The way she emerged on the national scene had made all of Punjab proud,” he said, adding that he was confident she would keep the Punjab flag flying high. He said that he was sure boys and girls of Punjab would be inspired by her to excel in sports, the promotion of which was a major priority for his Government.
Chief Minister’s Media Advisor Raveen Thukral said that the Chief Minister has assured the young talented woman cricketer that the government would continue to extend all possible support to further nurture her talent.
Harmanpreet, who steered India into the finals of Women Cricket World Cup last month by becoming the highest scorer in women cricket with 171 not out, off 115 balls, thanked the Chief Minister for helping her realize her dream to join the police force.
She said that though she had been playing for the last nine years, this was the first time her expectations from the state government had been fulfilled.
Harmanpreet said that she wanted more cricket academies to come up in Punjab, so that the problems she faced in her career are not faced by other budding players.
DGP said that with her induction into the force, they would set up a cricket team in the police department.