GUJARAT'S government on Wednesday (March 9) announced its first-ever Sports Policy which lays a special emphasis on creating a pool of talented sports persons who could fetch medals in Olympics and other international games.
Some of the key features of the Policy, announced by Sports Minister Nanu Vanani in the Legislative Assembly, include incentives and awards to be given to sports persons who win medals in national and international games.
As per the policy document, the government will offer class-I jobs to those who win medal in Olympics or in Asian Games and class-II jobs to winners of silver and bronze medals at Asian Games.
The government will also provide financial assistance of Rs 25 lakh annually to sports persons from state participating in international sports meets.
To encourage sports-persons to win medals, government also announced cash awards in range of Rs 5 crore to Rs 1 lakh.
Under the policy, winners of gold, silver and bronze medals in Olympics from state will be given cash prize of Rs 5 crore, Rs 3 crore and Rs 2 crore respectively.
The prize for winning these medals in national games will be at Rs 3 lakh, Rs 2 lakh and Rs 1 lakh respectively.
To develop a dynamic eco-system for sports in Gujarat, the government has announced inclusion of sports as a subject in curricula of schools and colleges, which will be on par with other optional subjects.
Further, two per cent of total seats in colleges, including professional courses, will be reserved for meritorious sports-persons, Vanani said.
The government will create District Level Sports Schools (DLSS) for spotting and grooming of the budding talents.
Other initiatives include setting up of a sports goods manufacturing park; Gujarat Sports Welfare Fund for retired players and providing incentives to sports academies and development of walking and cycling tracks at the tourist and pilgrimage destinations.
"Gujarat is currently ranked 7th or 8th in terms of sports in India. Our aim is to be number one.
Government alone could not achieve by it's own. We want support of people to achieve this goal," the minister told reporters.
