What was the 2023 Sports Policy of the Punjab government?
The Punjab government unveiled their 2023 Sports Policy for the state on July 31 last year. It was effective from the very moment of its publication in the Official Gazette.
The key features of this policy included developing pyramidal infrastructure, identifying talent from grassroot level, assisting budding players, providing opportunities for training of coaches, hosting state, national, and international tournaments, involving the corporate sector for the development of sports, and enhancing player's performance with the usage of technology.
Under the new sports policy, sports infrastructure will be developed with playgrounds within four kilometres of each house.
The fundamentals of the sports policy included increasing the cash rewards of Olympic medal winners and other highest-level international tournament winners. A cash reward of ₹3 crore, ₹2 crore, and ₹1 crore will be awarded to the gold, silver, and bronze medal winners at the Olympic Games, respectively, as per the policy.
The earlier prize money for gold, silver and bronze medals were ₹2.25 crore, ₹1.5 crore, and ₹1 crore.
The cash rewards for other games included in the new list are:
Special Olympics, Deaf Olympics, Para World Games - ₹75, ₹50 and ₹30 lakh
Badminton’s Thomas Cup, Uber Cup, BWF World Tour Finals - ₹75, ₹50 and ₹40 lakh
Tennis Grand Slams ( ₹75, ₹50 and ₹40 lakh)
Azlan Shah Hockey Cup ( ₹75, ₹50 and ₹40 lakh)
Diamond League and recognised tournaments of internationally reputed organisations ( ₹75, ₹50 and ₹40 lakh),
Deaf World Cup, blind World Cup ( ₹60, ₹40 and ₹20 lakh)
Youth Olympic Games ( ₹50, ₹30 and ₹20 lakh)
A special award for sports promoters was announced in the name of legendary Indian sprinter Milkha Singh (Milkha Singh Award) which includes a cash prize of ₹5 lakh a certificate and a memento.
To encourage participation in domestic competitions, the Balbir Singh Senior Scholarship Scheme has been introduced with medal winners at senior level to get ₹16,000 and medal winners at the junior level earning ₹12,000.
How does the Punjab Sports Policy 2023 help athletes with jobs?
A provision was made to offer the top 500 medal winners different job positions under a special cadre. The positions include 40 deputy directors, 92 senior coaches, 138 coaches, and 230 junior coaches.
The policy also aims to recruit seven times more coaches than the ones present in the state of Punjab. Punjab had 309 coaches but they intend on hiring as many as 2360 additional coaches.
On top of that, athletes preparing for quadrennial events such Olympics and Paralympics will receive ₹15 lakh.
According to Punjab Sports Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, a total of 1000 sports nurseries will be built. A budget of ₹250 crore was prepared with ₹25 lakh to be allocated to each sports nursery. Apart from that, 200 sports hostels will be set up across the 23 districts of Punjab to prepare talented players for national competitions.