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SPECIAL CASH AWARDS TO INTERNATIONAL SPORTS EVENTS WINNERS THEIR COACHES AND NATIONAL ADVENTURE AWARDS PRESENTED
New Delhi~ June 28, 2001
The Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Sushree Uma Bharati said the sports activities contribute to development of human personality and have a key role to play in nation building. Competitive sports have raised the standard of human efficiency and performance and have revealed incredible human capacity to excel beyond expectations she added. Congratulating the special cash awardees in international sports events and their coaches for 2000 and national adventure awardees for 1997 and 1998 the Minister said that the country is proud of all of the sports persons who have won medals in international sports events and have contributed to boosting the national morale. The Finance Minister Shri Yashwant Sinha gave away the awards.
Speaking on the occasion Shri Sinha said that it is important to make sports activities a national responsibility and involve NGOs Corporate Houses as well as Public Sector Undertakings. He also acknowledged the value of family support in the achievements of sports persons. The Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Pon. Radhakrishanan was the guest of honour for the function held here today. Sushree Uma Bharati said that all the 242 sports persons including 61 coaches and the five winners of national adventure awards have fired the imagination of the youth of the country. Sports is undoubtedly a great unifying force which unites people across sex, colour, religion, language and geographical barriers. Feats of adventure stretch the limits of human endeavour and encourage the younger generation to tread boldly into areas which test human courage. Adventure awards are given to recognize such feats of high skill and indomitable will. The contribution of coaches in the field of sports cannot be under estimated the Minister said. Talent of sports persons cannot be brought to full realisation without the skills of a trained coach.
However we will have a long way to go in fully applying sports sciences in the training and coaching of our sports persons. Our coaches must up-date their skills with scientific inputs so that they can mould the country's sports persons into winners. The Special Awards scheme was introduced in 1986 to motivate outstanding sportspersons for even higher achievements and to attract the younger generation to take to sports as a career. The purpose is also to compensate the medal winners of international sports events for the expenses incurred on diet training preparations and for the deprivations suffered by them due to their devotion and service to sports. The award money under the Special Awards scheme ranges from Rs.15 000 to Rs.15 lakh. Since the inception of the scheme 1130 sportspersons and their coaches have been given awards under the scheme. With this year's awards the total number of such recipients will be 1380. Under the Adventure Awards scheme the award money is Rs.50 000 and so far 36 persons in the field of land air and water adventure have been given this awards.
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