Punjab Sports Department on Tuesday launched the ‘Olympian Balbir Singh Senior Scholarship Scheme’ to encourage the state’s sportspersons at the grassroots level to prepare them for international level competitions.
Announcing this, Sports Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer said that under this scheme, Punjab players who win any medal in the senior national will get Rs 8,000 per month stipend for one year, while junior national medal winners will get a stipend of Rs 6000 per month for one year.
“The player will get this amount per month for one year, regardless of the gold, silver or bronze medal he has won,” he said, adding that an annual budget of Rs 12.50 crore has been reserved by the Sports Department for the scheme. Hayer said that Punjab is the first state in the country to start this unique scheme for eminent national players named after the legendary Hockey player Balbir Singh Senior.
The Minister also announced that health insurance is also being started for the players. “Apart from providing sports equipment to the players, new coaches will be recruited at a large scale. The diet of day-scholar players has been increased from Rs 100 to Rs 125 and the diet of hostel players has been increased from Rs 200 to Rs 225,” he said.