Manipur government announces hike in incentives for achievers in sports

Imphal, Jan 14: By James khangembam

In a recent development, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh announced an increase in incentives for medal winners of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) and National Games during a felicitation ceremony for the medal winners and participants of the 36th National Games in Gujarat and the 2nd North East Olympic Games in Shillong. The ceremony was held at Khuman Lampak Sports Complex, Imphal.

The CM informed that the incentives for gold medalists at the Commonwealth Games will be increased from Rs 15 lakh to Rs 20 lakh. Silver medalists from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 15 lakh. In addition, all participants in the games will receive an incentive of Rs 4 lakh.

Regarding the National Games, he announced that incentives for individual players winning a
gold medal will be increased from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, for silver medalists from Rs 2 lakh to
Rs 3 lakh and for bronze medalists from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh. For the team, the incentives for
gold, silver and bronze medals will be increased to Rs 15 lakh, Rs 10 lakh and Rs 5 lakh,
respectively, he added. In addition to these increases, the Chief Minister also announced an
increase in incentives for coaches, with gold medal from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7 lakh, silver medal
from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, and bronze medal from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 3 lakh.

The CM maintained that the objective of the state government was to create opportunities and provide support for its citizens. The CM stated that the government is focused on developing infrastructure in various sectors, including sports, in order to foster a culture of achievement and excellence.

Biren also stated the government has initiated the process of increasing the sitting capacity of the gallery of Khuman Lampak Main Stadium to around 70,000. He deliberated on the plan to construct a Stadium with a crowd capacity of 1 lakh and mentioned the identification of land measuring 50 acres in the Imphal West district for the same.

The Chief Minister urged young athletes of the state not just to aim for getting a government job after winning medals in national events, but rather aim for the Olympic Games. He added that the government would also discuss matters relating to providing jobs to gold medal-winning players at the national level.