Delhi govt gives cash awards to CWG, Asiad medal winners

New Delhi: The Delhi government today honoured the medallists of last year`s Commonwealth Games and Asian Games with cash awards and distributed an amount of Rs 2.80 crore among the athletes, who brought laurels for the country.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit presented a cheque of Rs 40 lakhs to ace shooter Ronjan Sodhi, who won two silver medals in CWG and one gold and one bronze in the Guangzhou Asian Games. Shooter Manavjit Singh Sandhu received a cheque of Rs 20 lakhs for his silver and bronze in the Commonwealth Games and the lone bronze in the Asian Games, while his compatriot Deepak Sharma, who won a silver in the Delhi Games, and Asiad bronze medallist was awarded an amount of Rs 10 lakh. Among other shooters, Asiad bronze medallist Mansher Singh, who did not attend the function, and CWG gold medallist Samresh Jung were awarded Rs 15 lakhs each for their achievements. Among wrestlers, Ravinder Singh was awarded Rs 20 lakhs for his gold in CWG and bronze medal in the Asiad, while his much-fancied compatriots Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt got Rs 15 lakhs each. The bronze medal-winning grapplers in the Commonwealth Games, Joginder Kumar, Anil Kumar and Dharmendra Dalal were presented cheques worth Rs 5 lakhs each. The Delhi CM also awarded cheques amounting to Rs 15 lakhs to kabbadi players, Pooja Sharma, Rakesh Kumar, Manjeet Chhillar, Anup Kumar and Navneet Gautam, who fetched a gold for India in the Asian Games. The Delhi government also awarded Rs 5 lakhs each to coaches of the medal winning athletes. During the felicitation function, Delhi CM Dikshit stated that all Delhiites are proud of the achievements of these athletes. She further said the Delhi government will continue to the encourage sportpersons of the city to help them win more laurels for the country in the international arena in future."The hosting of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi provided us an opportunity to commission world class sports infrastructure in Delhi. The stadia constructed by the city government earned appreciation from one and all," Dikshit said. Apart from the cash awards to the athletes, Thyagraj Stadium and Chatrasaal Stadium received special recognition and were bestowed with prestigious awards during the function.Apart from Dikshit, the function was also attended by Delhi ministers, Arvinder Singh, Haroon Yusuf, Raj Kumar Chauhan, Rama Kant Goswami and Kiran Walia. PTI