Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that taking inspiration from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s resolve to encourage athletes and promote sports in the country, Uttar Pradesh had made significant efforts to foster sports culture.
“UP is the only state which honoured all the athletes who won medals and made the country proud,” he said.
Addressing the sports talents felicitation ceremony at Raj Bhavan in Lucknow on the occasion of 74th Republic Day in the presence of Governor Anandiben Patel, Yogi Adityanath said, “The state drew inspiration from the prime minister’s encouragement and support to the sports fraternity and adopted a similar approach. Our government is leaving no stone unturned to provide all necessary assets to the sportspersons to promote sports activities for them to shine nationally and internationally.”
The chief minister said that the process of reserving land for sports grounds through conversion in every village, construction of open gyms, mini stadiums at the block level, and stadiums at the district level was going on at a war footing.
He added: “The government is working dedicatedly to provide government jobs to the talented sportspersons of the state. Two players (Lalit Upadhyay and Vijay Yadav) were given appointment letters as gazetted officers. Soon, many other players will also be benefitted.”
Yogi also said that the construction of the state's first sports university in the name of Major Dhyanchand was underway in Meerut.
The chief minister said that his government was giving encouragement to players through provision of Rs 6 crore for winning gold in a single game in the Olympics, Rs 4 crore for silver medal and Rs 2 crore for winning bronze medal. “In team games, Rs 3 crore is given for winning a gold medal, Rs 2 crore for silver medal and Rs 1 crore are given to the players who win bronze medal,” he said.
Similarly, the government gives a monetary reward of Rs 3 crore for gold, Rs 1.5 crore for silver and Rs 75 lakh for winning bronze in the Asian Games and Rs 1.5 crore for winning a gold medal, Rs 75 lakh for silver and Rs 50 lakh for bronze in the Commonwealth Games and World Cup championships. In addition, Rs 10-10 lakhs are given to the players participating in the Olympics and Rs 5-5 lakhs in the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games categories. Out of the 14 state players, four each won silver and bronze medals in the Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham (England) while in the 36th National Games held in Gujarat, UP players brought laurels by winning 20 gold, 18 silver and 18 bronze medals in 18 sports events.
On the occasion, Governor Anandiben Patel said: "It is a pleasure to honour the sportspersons on the auspicious day of Basant Panchami. Defeats should not disappoint sportspersons and victories should not overwhelm you. For attaining success in any field, the most important thing is to remain disciplined.”
The governor said that when the prime minister had come to lay the foundation stone of the sports university in Meerut, he had discussed with the players that they should teach the primary-secondary schoolchildren from where they come from.
"Your talent should reach the people around you. You will benefit more than they will benefit. One player should prepare 10 players", she said.
On this occasion, Minister of State for Sports and Youth Welfare (Independent Charge) Girish Chand Yadav, Chief Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra, Additional Chief Secretary (Sports) Navneet Sehgal, were present.
CWG medal winners who were honoured:
Divya Kakran of Muzaffarnagar (bronze /wrestling): Rs 50 lakh.
Sarita Romit Singh (participant/athletics): Rs 5 lakh
Poonam Yadav (Participant/weightlifting): Rs 5 Lakh
Poornima Pandey (Participant/weightlifting): Rs 5 lakh
Rohit Yadav (participant/athletics): Rs 5 lakh
Vishwanath Yadav (participant/triathlon): Rs 5 lakhs
Medal winners of the 36th National Games held in Gujarat were also honoured.