Sports Minister felicitates Olympic-bound shuttler Sai Praneeth

The Minister lauded Sai Praneeth for making it to Tokyo Games and presented a cheque for Rs 5 lakh as a token of appreciation.

Hyderabad: State Sports Minister V Srinivas Goud felicitated Indian shuttler B Sai Praneeth, who is set to represent India in the upcoming Olympics in Tokyo, at his chamber on Tuesday.

Sai Praneeth, along with Rio Olympics silver medallist PV Sindhu and doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Sheety, qualified for the Games. The Minister lauded Sai Praneeth for making it to Tokyo Games and presented a cheque for Rs 5 lakh as a token of appreciation.

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The minister further said the State government is dedicated to develop the sports in the State and make Telangana a nucleus of the Indian sports. Srinivas Goud said the government has encouraged sports persons and so far spent over Rs 25.7 crore to give to sports persons, who have won various medals for the country and the State, as appreciation. An amount of Rs 9 crore has been given to various sports associations and bodies, he added.

While an Olympic gold medallist was rewarded with Rs 50 lakh in the combined State, Telangana government has increased the amount to Rs 2 crore while a silver and bronze medallist, who got Rs 25 and 10 lakh respectively earlier, were given Rs 1 cr and Rs 50 lakh respectively, in the Telangana State, the Minister revealed. Sports Authority of Telangana State (SATS) chairman A Venkateshwar Reddy, who was also present at the event, hoped that Sai Praneeth would bring laurels to the country in the Olympics.

CM sanctioning incentives to promote sports: Goud

Hyderabad: After State formation, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has been promoting sports and sanctioning incentives for its development in the State, Sports Minister V Srinivas Goud said on Tuesday. He said Rs 25.87 crore cash incentives have been awarded to sportsperson in the State so far.

The State government, he said, had sanctioned Rs 9 crore for various sports organisations as incentive for promotion of sports, the Minister said, after felicitating shuttler Sai Praneeth, who has been included in the Indian badminton team for Tokyo Olympics. The Minister also presented a cheque for Rs 5 lakh to Sai Praneeth as incentive.

The Chief Minister appointed a Cabinet sub-committee for promotion of sports, creation of sporting infrastructure, framing policies and to transform Telangana into a sports hub. Efforts are now on to frame the best sports policy in the country, the Minister said.

As per the instructions of Industries Minister KT Rama Rao, a few industries and corporate companies under corporate social responsibility were extending support in developing sports infrastructure in the State, he said.

Since Telangana formation, sportspersons were being given 0.5 per cent reservation in higher education and two per cent reservation in jobs, the Minister said, adding that cash incentives for sportspersons, who win medals in international events and bring laurels to the State, had been almost doubled. “Sportspersons from Telangana should perform well in the Tokyo Olympics and bring laurels to the State,” said Srinivas Goud.

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