MP Sports Awards Conferred
Bhopal: The prestigious Vikram and Vishwamitra awards for excellence in sports were Saturday conferred on 30 sports persons and coaches at a grand function held at Ravindra Bhawan in the state capital.
Those present on the occasion included Minister for Sports and Youth Welfare Tukoji Rao Puar, Member of Parliament Kailash Joshi, President of Madhya Pradesh Olympic Association Ramesh Mendola and Arjuna awardee GL Yadav.
Addressing the function, Governor Rameshwar Thakur termed sport an important part of our culture and tradition. He, however, lamented that performance was lagging behind at international level.
Expressing hopes of the state’s sportspeople bringing glory to both the state and the country, Thakur said coaching camps should also be organized at rural and district levels.
Presiding over the function, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan reiterated the state government’s commitment to continuously encourage sportspersons.
Underlining the over ten-fold increase (from Rs. Four Crore to Rs. 50 Crore) in the sports budget over the last five years, Chouhan assured that money will not be a constraint in the encouragement of sportspersons.
He said that at present the state runs 14 sports academies. Well-equipped sports village in an area of 172 acres of land in village Satgadi near Bhopal is under construction.
Ultramodern stadiums are constructed in Gwalior, Vidisha, Seoni, Khandwa, Bhopal and Shivpuri, he said
On this occasion, Chouhan conferred special award of Rs. one lakh to Arjun Awardee Shri GL Yadav.
The Vikram Awardees this year include Shivendra Singh, Jagriti Patel, Shilpa Kaithal, Sunil Keer, Atul Jaat, Sachin Kasture, P. Robin and Tilak Dave (jointly, Pratha Kshirsagar, Dilip Sharma and Sameer Khan.
Umesh Yadav, Kuldeep Singh Keer, Pooja Kudesiya, Sameer Verma, Navdeep Singh Rathore, Sidra Sabir, Sandeep Rathore, Ankita Raikwar, Vikas Manjhi, Ankit Sharma, Pooja Gome, Radhika Aapte and Neha Jain were conferred the Ekalavya Award.
Roshanlal, Sanjay Saxena and Sarika Gupta received the Vishwamitra Award.
The prestigious Late Captain Roop Singh Lifetime Achievement Award was conferred on MP Tiwari.
On the occasion, Governor Thakur presented appointment letters to Vikash Sharma, Manish Kumar, Munnalal Mahobia, Sachin Verma and Neelam Mishra.
