YOGI GIVES AWAY LAXMI BAI, LAXMAN AWARDS
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday bestowed the prestigious Rani Laxmi Bai and Laxman awards on 14 state sportspersons on the occasion of National Sports Day. The CM also announced renaming of the multi-crore Saifai Sports College after hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand. The awardees were given a citation, bronze statue of Rani Laxmi Bai and Laxman and cash prize of ₹3.11 lakh.
On a day when chief minister Yogi Adityanath announced the government’s decision to rename the multicrore Saifai Sports College after Major Dhyan Chand, deputy CM Dinesh Sharma advocated for separation of politics from sports.
“Hockey wizard Major Dhyan Chand ensured recognition for the country in the world and everyone remembers his contribution to sports,” the CM said while distributing Laxman and Rani Laxmi Bai Awards to 14 sportspersons on the occasion of National Sports Day here.
“As a mark of respect to the sporting legend, the state government has decided to change the name of Saifai Sports College to Major Dhyan Chand Sports College. The entire nation is watching Uttar Pradesh and our sportspersons have a bigger role to play,” he said.
Effecting no change in the cash award policy of the Akhilesh Yadav government for sportspersons winning medals at the Olympics, Asian and Commonwealth Games, the CM called upon the present generation of sportspersons to bag the cash awards by winning medals at the international level.
“Cash awards for medal winners will inspire the next generation to follow their footsteps,” Yogi said and added that there was no dearth of talent in the state and they only needed right opportunity and platform.
Deputy CM Dinesh Sharma stressed on the optimum use of world-class shooting range, which is presently in shambles. He suggested that united efforts by all stakeholders would help sports grow in UP.
“We should focus on specific sports and before targeting 10 gold medals in next 10 years, we should focus on 2-3 medals in the 2020 Olympics. A special work plan should be chalked out to achieve this aim,” he said.
“We should also plan out something special for the next Asian Games in advance,” Yogi said. Calling for an end to politics in sports, Sharma said KD Singh ‘Babu’ Stadium was known for hockey but was made an ‘adda’ of politics.
“We need to increase the participation of sportspersons in sports planning. There should be transparency in selection system,” he said.
On the occasion, Rs 1 lakh each was given to Indu Gupta, Sristi Agarwal, Manjula Pathak and Sachin Kumar Bhardwaj who won gold medals at the 12th South Asian Games-2016 along with wushu exponent Uchit Sharma, who received Rs 3 lakh for individual gold at the SA Games.
Women cricketers Poonam Yadav and Deepti Sharma, who were part of the second-placed Indian team at the recently held Women’s World Cup, were presented with Rs 8 lakh each, besides them Rs 10 lakh was given to Suhas LY, who had a gold at the International Para Badminton Championship in Turkey.
AWARDEES
Laxman award: Rahul Chaudhary (kabaddi), Saneesh Mani Mishra (soft tennis), Siddarth Verma (gymnastics), Danish Mujtaba (hockey), Mohd Asab (shooting). Rajneesh Mishra (for hockey in veterans’ category).
Rani Laxmi Bai award:
Manjula Pathak (handball), Sushila Pawar (weightlifting), Shreya Singh (taekwondo), Shreya Kumar (soft tennis), Gargi Yadav (wrestling), Preeti Gupta (kho-kho). Ranjana (for hockey in veterans’ category) and Anshu Dalal (for judo in veterans’ category).