Responding to Haryana sports minister Anil Vij’s statement that she would receive the Rs 2 crore promised to her in spite of the revision in cash prizes, shooter Manu Bhaker said athletes needed the money for practice and training purposes.
Speaking to ANI, Bhaker said:
“Initially it was 10 lakh, then he (Anil Vij) made it 2 crore. I had made plans as to what investments I’m going to make for practice. I felt weird when they reduced it by 1 crore; it’s a really good thing now that he has made it 2 crore again.”
Focus on Game: Anil Vij Slams Manu Bhaker Over Rs 2 Cr Cash Prize
A day after shooter Manu Bhaker took a dig at the Haryana government on Twitter over its cash prize revision, Vij had responded on 5 January, Saturday, claiming that she needed to be “disciplined” first.
In a series of tweets, Vij said:
Stating that the 16-year-old shooter should have confirmed with the concerned department, before taking to Twitter, Vij added that Bhaker will receive the Rs 2 crore promised to her, in accordance with the older notification.
Further, in an on-air chat with News18, Vij defended himself and lashed out Bhaker again for supposedly having “spread wrong information on a public domain.”
While conceding that the government was yet to pay Rs 2 crore to the shooter, Vij told the channel that they would award the amount as promised, although he failed to mention the timeline.
‘Please Stop Intimidating Sportspersons’: IOA President Backs Bhaker
Narinder Batra, the president of Indian Olympic Association, stood by Bhaker, asking the minister to stop intimidating and threatening Bhaker, and istead pay up what his government had promised.
In a Facebook post, Batra also asked Vij to learn from the central ministry of sports, who “give the awards within two day of return of athletes from the events.”
Vij v/s Bhaker: How it Began
On 4 January, Friday, a miffed Bhaker had taken to Twitter to question the Haryana government’s apparent policy change regarding cash prizes, which had reduced the amount she was to receive for having won the Youth Olympics gold from Rs 2 crore to Rs 1 crore.
Her tweet read:
Bhaker’s tweet had come in light of the Haryana government’s new policy ‘Catch Them Young’, under which the sports department had revised the cash prize awarded to sportspersons. In the new notification, the amount under the gold category for Youth Olympics was specified as Rs 1 crore in place of the earlier Rs 2 crore.
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