Lovlina Borgohain awarded Rs 1 crore for ‘igniting a billion dreams’

GUWAHATI: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma presented Olympic medalist pugilist Lovlina Borgohain Rs 1 crore and offered the post of deputy superintendent of police (DSP) in the state police department at a felicitation programme organised by the state government at Srimanta Sankardeva International Auditorium here in Guwahati on Thursday.
She will be appointed as DSP according to the sports policy of the state government. Earlier this year, world championship gold medallist sprinter Hima Das was appointed DSP in the police department.
Sarma said the state government has decided to give Lovlina Rs 1 lakh monthly as a scholarship for her preparations for the Paris Olympics in 2024 and will continue to do so till the Games.
Thanking her for scripting Assam’s name in world sports by winning a medal at the Tokyo Olympics, Sarma announced that a road in the capital city – Guwahati — will also be named after her as gratitude towards her remarkable contribution to the field of sports, which has “ignited a billion dreams”.
“Lovlina has ignited a billion dreams with her success at the Tokyo Olympics and set an example for budding sports talents in rural areas to aspire to achieve big at the world stage,” the CM said.
Sarma also thanked all the coaches — Padum Barua, Prashanta Das, Sandhya Gurung and Rafael Gamavaska — for guiding and training Lovlina to make her able to win a medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Indian boxing coach Padum Boro spotted Lovlina as a promising boxer during his visit to Golaghat in 2013 in search of talent under a project of the Sports Authority of India (SAI). All the four coaches, who were a part of Lovlina’s boxing journey, will be honoured with Rs 10 lakh each as a token of gratitude from the people of Assam, the chief minister said.
He also announced that a sports complex with a boxing academy will be set up at the cost of Rs 25 crore in the Sarupathar constituency, under which Lovlina’s village Baro Mukhiya falls, to groom many more rural talents.
Sarma said, “Lovlina has etched her name in gold in the pages of the state's history by bringing the first Olympic medal to the state. I congratulate her and her parents as well at this moment.”
Meanwhile, a delegation of Assam Pradesh Congress Committee led by president Bhupen Borah felicitated Lovlina and handed over a cheque for Rs 3 lakh as a token of blessing and goodwill.