Punjab waives income limit on pension of Olympians
Darpan News Desk IANS, 15 Nov, 2021 11:39 AM
Chandigarh, Nov 15 (IANS) Acceding to a long-pending demand of former Olympians, Punjab Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Pargat Singh on Monday announced to waive the condition of income limit on pension of medal winner international players.
An announcement to this regard was made by the minister during an interaction with former players held here regarding formulation of new sports policy.
He said instead of big stadiums, major thrust will be laid on establishing coaching centres.
Pargat Singh said, in order to streamline sports in the state a 20-member committee comprising of players of various games is being constituted so that benefit can be taken from their vast experience and expertise in field of sports.
The minister said the government is in process of formulating a policy wherein the services of the players recruited under sports quota will be taken by the department.
He exhorted such government officers to voluntarily opt for this scheme to uplift the level of sports in the state. He advocated that at level of coming into service these players must give preference to department only.
The minister also called upon the players to render services to the Education Department so that foundation of sports can be laid at early age.
He said that the department has set a target of associating five lakh youth of the state under sports. For creating an atmosphere of sports in the state corporate firms, private companies and NRIs will be roped in.
Meanwhile, former Olympians lauded the Sports Minister for involving them to prepare the sports policy. They also gave their suggestions to inculcate sporting spirit amongst the youth from tender age.
They said that it is for the first time that any Sports Minister has done a meeting with them on this important issue.
Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, who has raised the banner of revolt against Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, met former party chief Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday evening soon after meeting party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
After attending the recent all-party meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, two former chief ministers of the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti stood miles apart.
A delegation of Sikh leaders on Tuesday met Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G. Kishan Reddy over the recent incident of forcible religious conversion of two Sikh girls in the Kashmir valley and submitted a memorandum in this regard.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday favoured the need to start breeding crocodiles in the state's rivers, especially the Beas and the Sutlej, as they were found in abundance six decades ago.
Facing massive statewide agitation by farmers over power outages, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday issued directions to ensure eight-hour uninterrupted power supply and to purchase deficient power from outside the state at any cost to prevent any supply disruption in the ongoing sowing season.
