By IANS,
Chandigarh: Haryana Tuesday announced a reward of
Rs.30 lakh for the Indian hockey team that won the inaugural Asian Champions Trophy in China.
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda made the announcement here. He also announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for Harpreet Singh, a member of the squad hailing from Haryana.
Haryana has distributed cash rewards of nearly Rs 32.5 crore to nearly 7,000 medal winning players since 2005. The players have also been given jobs in the police and state government departments. They have also received freebies like cars and mobile phones.
The announcement of a paltry Rs.25,000 reward for the squad earlier this month had led to a countrywide uproar.
Sports Minister Ajay Maken later announced Rs.1.5 lakh for each player.
Maken justified the players’ decision to dump the HI cash offer, and chided the hockey body for handing out a pittance to the players returning home after beating Pakistan 4-2 in the final.
The minister had said that the players were suffering because of problems between HI and the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF).
The Punjab government had announced a reward of Rs 25 lakh for the team for its achievement. Seven-eight players in the team belong to Punjab.
The Maharashtra government promised Rs.10 lakh in cash and a job to Yuvraj Walmiki, a key player from that state.
Skipper Rajpal Singh did not hide his disgust.
“This is not the way to treat national players,” Rajpal said. “Our self-respect was wounded. It (25,000 rupees) was far below our expectations. It is not acceptable.”
HI’s Narendra Batra had admitted that the Rs 25,000 reward was partly but said that this was all that the federation could afford.