Odisha government announces cash rewards for Indian hockey players

Bhubaneswar, Dec 10 : The Odisha government on Sunday announced a Rs 10 lakh cash prize for each Indian hockey player who was part of the team that won the bronze medal by beating Germany in the Hockey World League final at Kalinga Stadium here.

While a Rs 10 lakh cash prize has been announced for the players and the coach, each supporting staff of Hockey India would get Rs 5 lakh.

"Well played, #India, bronze winners of #HWL2017. The young team showed brilliance & tremendous grit to achieve podium finish. Happy to announce a 10 lakh cash prize to each player & coach & 5 lakh each for support staff of @TheHockeyIndia. They have made us proud. #INDvGER," tweeted Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

He distributed the bronze medals to the Indian Hockey players at the Kalinga Stadium here in the presence of Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, who is also here to watch the matches, did not announce any incentives for the bronze medallists. He said that incentives are provided under the sports policy for nurturing the talent of players.

He said that the union government has revamped Khelo India aiming at impacting the entire sporting ecosystem, with wide-ranging interventions.

He said under this scheme, the government will provide a scholarship to 1,000 talented youngsters across various sports disciplines.

Each sportsperson selected under this scheme will receive an annual scholarship of Rs 5 lakh for eight consecutive years.