Monday, September 1, 2008

Haryana strives to be a Sporting Superpower

Bhupinder Singh Hooda, CM Haryana

After the best Olympic performance in its history, India seems to be rising towards sports as well. Haryana, the state of Bronze medalist Vijender Kumar, seems to be working in that direction.

In a facilitation ceremony to honor the Olympic heroes, it was raining money on the sportsmen of India. Here is what was on offer:

Sports person

Achievement

Prize money

Abhinav Bindra

Gold in Shooting

25 Lacs

Vijender Kumar

Bronze in Boxing

50 Lacs, a residential plot and an offer to become the Deputy Director of Sports Department or Deputy Superintendent of Police.

Sushil Kumar

Bronze in Wrestling

25 Lacs and an offer to become the Deputy Superintendent of Police.

Akhil Kumar

Quarter finalist in Boxing

25 Lacs

Jitender Kumar

Quarter finalist in Boxing

25 Lacs

Saina Nehwal

Quarter finalist in Badminton

25 Lacs

Yogeshwar Dutt

Quarter finalist in Wrestling

25 Lacs

The strangest of the above was the reward to Abhinav Bindra and it seems he was absent from the ceremony justifiably.

Haryana’s Chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, vowed to make Haryana a sporting super power. He announced a reward of 11 Lac to everyone who qualifies for the Olympics in future. Other announcements were about the sports academies that will come up in Haryana.

  • Boxing Academy in Bhiwani: A boxing academy of international standards will come up in Bhiwani and will be named after Captain Hawa Singh.
  • Cricket Academy in Jhajjar: Cricketer Virender Sehwag would be setting a Cricket academy in Jhajjar.
  • Football Academy: An international level Football academy will be setup in Gurgaon.
  • Sports Institute: Naveen Jindal, MP and industrialist, will setup a sports institute in Haryana worth Rs 100 crore.
All this looks to be a welcome change in the mindset of the Indian politicians. What remains to be seen though is how many of these promises actually materialize.

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