Manu Bhaker. (File Photo)LESS THAN three months after Haryana Sports Minister Anil Vij announced a cash prize of Rs 2 crore to professional shooter Manu Bhaker for winning a gold medal at the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Argentina, the state government’s December 27 notification on “Cash awards to sportspersons in individual events”, mentioned the award money as Rs 1 crore. The notification was issued by Haryana’s Principal Secretary (sports) Ashok Khemka.
Manu, 16, is the only girl from Haryana, who won a gold medal at the YOG in the state’s history. In October 2018, Manu had become the first Indian shooter to win a gold at the YOG when she clinched a gold medal in the 10m air pistol category.
After Manu Bhaker tweeted Friday morning, expressing her anguish on the “reduction in prize money”, the state government’s flip-flops on the issue came to the fore.
While Vij maintained that the reward money had not been reduced, he said he did not know about any such notification. When brought to his notice, he said, “Somebody is playing mischief. The award money has not been reduced…”
Attaching a copy of the December 27 notification, Manu Bhaker tweeted, “Someone in Haryana is really playing with Youth Olympic Games prize! It is really for encouraging or disheartening players…”
Later in the day, responding to Manu Bhaker’s tweet, Ashok Khemka tweeted, “The Haryana Government has enhanced cash prize for Youth Olympics Gold by 10 times. It was 10 lakh earlier, now it is 100 lakh. One crore prize money in an under-18 sports event is good encouragement and is unmatched anywhere else.”
Asked about a tweet of Khemka in which he justified Rs 1 crore prize money, Vij said, “It may be his personal feeling.”
A senior official with the sports department explained how the prize money was reduced. “It was a bonafide error in the initial notification. There was an impression that the YOG covers junior category (below 21 years) of championships, but later we discovered that the Youth Games cover only sub-junior category, which is below 18 years of sportspersons. That’s why this correction was made through the December 27 notification”, an officer said.
