Bittu flays state govt
Monday, 13/10/2014
http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=116566&boxid=58673&uid=&dat=2014-10-13
Ludhiana : Congress Member of Parliament from Ludhiana Ravneet Singh Bittu lashed out at the Punjab government for letting down medal winners of the state by not fulfilling its promise.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Bittu said, “It’s shameful that on one hand, sportsperson who have brought laurels to the state by winning medals at the Commonwealth and Asian Games this year are yet to receive Rs 2.65 crore, their share of prize money as announced by the state government, on the other, the Haryana government has already given away the entire prize money of Rs 13.75 crore to all its CWG medal winners. Under these circumstances, who will play for the state which has failed to live up to its commitment when other states are fulfilling their promise on the ground itself?” Bittu asked.
Bittu asked who was stopping the state government from implementing its sports policy in the state? “The Punjab players are feeling cheated and the prolonged delay in the release of both cash and prize money is affecting their motivation levels,”he added.
It is pertinent to mention here that according to the 2010 sports policy, a player having earned 625 points in various national and international events is entitled to a DSP rank in the Punjab Police. The cash award in the policy was introduced to compensate the medal winners of national and international sports events for the expenses incurred on diet, training and preparation.
