Chandigarh: Boxers of Haryana shine In the International Boxing Association (IBA) Women’s World Boxing Championships 2023 held in Delhi last month. With four gold in their kitty, India topped the medal tally.
Among the four gold medalists, Neetu Ghanghas (48kg category) and Sweety Boora (81kg category) are from Haryana. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar last week handed over offer letters and checks of Rs 40 lakh each to the world champions for Group B posts in the Sports and Youth Affairs Department.
Although it accounts for just 2.1 per cent of India’s population (as per the 2011 census), Haryana is a powerhouse in Indian sports. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the state Contribution Half of the individual medals, with Neeraj Chopra’s gold, Ravi Kumar Dahiya’s silver and Bajrang Punia’s bronze.
The scenario was no different in the 2016 Rio Olympics as the state accounted for half of India’s medals. In the 2018 Asian and Commonwealth Games (CWG), players from Haryana contributed one-fourth and one-third of the total medals, respectively.
But since Khattar came to power in 2014, his government has faced criticism from the opposition for not awarding medal-winning sportspersons with “good jobs” and money, the way it used to before. These voices have been getting louder ever since the sports quota was abolished in Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) recruitment in February, at a time when assembly elections are just a year away.
Haryana has changed its policy of giving government jobs to medal winning sportspersons four times in the last five years. The Chief Minister has the charge of the Sports Department.
Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda and former chief minister of Haryana told ThePrint, “The Congress government, by building infrastructure and rewarding medal-winning sportspersons with jobs and cash, created an environment that allowed sportspersons to perform better in international tournaments.” Inspired to do.
He said: “It serves a dual purpose. The policy was named bring the medal, get a job’, While the youth of Punjab were driven towards drugs, the people of Haryana channeled energy towards sports because they knew that a medal in an international competition is a ticket to a good job and prize money. But this government has twisted the policy to the detriment of the players.
Hooda further said that he gave the post of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) to the players who brought laurels to the country with their performance.
Those appointed as DSPs include Sandeep Singh, Indian hockey captain Sardar Singh, boxers Vijender Singh, Akhil Kumar and Jitendra Kumar, Commonwealth Games gold medalist and hockey star Mamta Kharab, T20 World Cup winner Joginder Sharma, wrestlers Yogeshwar Dutt and Geetika. Are included. Jakhar and Everest climber Mamta Sodha. However, this government is offering low-value jobs which do not attract sportspersons.”
The Congress leader said that he had also given land to cricketer Virender Sehwag to set up the academy.
Khattar’s media advisor Amit Arya told ThePrint that ever since the BJP government came to power, “outstanding sportspersons are getting jobs and cash within days of winning medals.”
“Take the example of Neetu Ghanghas and Sweety Burra, who were offered jobs within three days of their medal-winning performance and Rs 40 lakh each. Earlier players had to wait a long time. The cash prizes being given to the players today are the highest in the world.
Asked about the opposition’s allegations, Arya said the government was ensuring that sportspersons get jobs in their area of expertise.
A senior government official who was involved with the process when the policy was last revised in 2021 told ThePrint on condition of anonymity that the government has decided to scrap its offer Haryana Civil Service (HCS) or Haryana Police Service (HPS) Ports to outstanding players due to “legal issues”.
He said that the Haryana Civil Services (Executive Branch) Officers’ Association had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the ground that sportspersons could not be considered to have the skills required to perform the duties as an executive officer. The High Court, in its February 2019 order, had asked Haryana to reconsider the rules.
Speaking to ThePrint, Pankaj Nain, director of the Department of Sports and Youth Affairs, said that 19 sportspersons were offered Group A jobs under the latest 2021 policy, of whom 15 have joined. Similarly, 41 players were offered Group B jobs, out of which 25 have started serving, while 139 of the 156 who were offered Group C jobs have joined duty.
Apart from the sports department, those doing Group C jobs have also been accommodated in education, panchayat and police departments.
In its report tabled in the Haryana Vidhan Sabha during the budget session last month, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had found that cash prizes worth Rs 41.30 crore were given to ineligible sportspersons from 2004-05 to 2015-16.
Last Thursday, Khattar in a review meeting asked the officials to ensure all facilities to the players to boost their performance in national and international competitions.
change in sports policy
In its Policy Notified on 5 September 2018, the Khattar government went a step further than what the previous Hooda administration had offered to sportspersons.
Gold medalists in the Olympic and Paralympic Games were to be appointed to the Haryana Civil Service (HCS) or the Haryana Police Service (HPS) with a seniority of eight years. Similarly, HCS or HPS posts with four years’ seniority were assured for silver medal winners and HCS or HPS posts without seniority for bronze winners.
For World Cup medalists, the policy offered HCS or HPS jobs with four years’ seniority for gold, without HCS or HPS for silver, and Group A positions excluding HCS and HPS for bronze. Did. As far as team events were concerned, HCS or HPS jobs were offered for gold, group A jobs for silver and group B jobs for bronze.
Similarly, the policy also mentions the details of jobs to be given to medal winners in Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and other sports events apart from cash awards.
Another notification was issued on 5 September 2019 offering Rs 6 crore for winning gold in the Olympics or Paralympics, Rs 4 crore for silver, Rs 2.5 crore for bronze and Rs 15 lakh for participation. Gold, Silver and Bronze medalists for the Asian and Para Asian Games were allocated Rs 3 crore, Rs 1.5 crore and Rs 75 lakh respectively. The cash amount provided under the policy is Rs 40 lakh for gold, Rs 30 lakh for silver and Rs 20 lakh for bronze in the World Cup.
After making minor changes on 3 and 10 September 2019, the Haryana government made major amendments to the policy through a notification issued on 26 February 2021, when it Replaced HCS or HPS posts for medal winners with Group A (Deputy Director), B (Senior Coach) and C (Junior Coach) posts in the Sports and Youth Welfare Department.
With the Haryana Outstanding Sportspersons (Group A, B and C) Service Rules, 2021, repealing the Haryana Outstanding Sportspersons (Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 2018, sportspersons can no longer get elite HPS and HCS posts .
While Group A positions were reserved for Asian and Olympic gold winners, Group B and C positions were reserved for silver and bronze winners. For the winners of the World Cup and Commonwealth Games, the policy provided Group B jobs for gold and silver medalists and Group C jobs for bronze winners.
It was under this revised policy that Neetu and Sweety were given Group B jobs and Rs 40 lakh each for their victory.
(Edited by Tony Rae)
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