“Punjab’s Athletes Made Tricolour Proud Worldwide”: CM Bhagwant Mann Honours Players with Awards
Punjab Govt distributed prize money worth Rs. 32.05 crore among all players
Ekamjit Singh Brar, Punjab Times Headline
Chandigarh, May 24
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Sunday unveiled one of the biggest sports promotion drives in Punjab’s history, honouring 87 Maharaja Ranjit Singh Awardees and 1,070 medal-winning ath-letes with prize money worth Rs. 32.05 crore while announcing a sweeping expansion of the state’s sports ecosystem from vil-lages to international are-nas. Positioning Punjab as an emerging sports power-house, the Chief Minister the Punjab Government has not only honoured Olympic and Asian Games medalists with Rs.1 crore each and provided jobs to nine play-ers, but has also, for the first time, extended direct financial assistance worth Rs.8.61 crore to 220 players for tournament preparation. Making a decisive shift from token recognition to struc-tural investment in sports, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann announced a record sports budget of Rs.1,763 crore for 2026-27 and the develop-ment of 3,148 rural sports grounds at a cost of Rs.1,300 crore to nurture talent at the grassroots.
The Chief Minister fur-ther declared that Punjab will host the Asian Champions Trophy for the first time, with the high-volt-age India-Pakistan clash set to be played on Punjab Day. Taking a dig at previous regimes, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann said Punjab, despite producing count-less champions for the country, was never earlier given the opportunity to host a major sporting event, while sports associations remained dominated by politically connected indi-viduals instead of genuine players.
Addressing a grand felicitation ceremony, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann said the day marked a historic moment for Punjab as 87 players were conferred with the prestigious Maharaja Ranjit Singh Award while 1,070 medal-winning sportspersons from differ-ent disciplines were also honoured. “For the first time in Punjab’s history, the gov-ernment has distributed prize money worth Rs.32.05 crore among players through cheques. The Punjab Government has not only honoured Olympic and Asian Games medalists with Rs.1 crore each but has also provided jobs to nine medal-winning players,” he added.
The Chief Minister noted, “The players of Punjab have brought immense pride to the country and the state through their achievements on international platforms. It is our responsibility to stand firmly with them and ensure they receive the respect, recognition, and support they deserve.” Highlighting the Punjab Government’s sports vision, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann said that for the first time, 220 players in Punjab were granted Rs.8.61 crore to pre-pare for tournaments. “The Punjab Government has allocated a record sports budget of Rs.1,763 crore for the financial year 2026-27 to strengthen sports infra-structure and athlete devel-opment across the state. To nurture talented players in villages, 3,148 rural sports grounds are being devel-oped at a cost of Rs.1,300 crore. These grounds will become guiding lights for emerging players from rural Punjab,” he added.
The Chief Minister said Punjab will host the Asian Champions Trophy for the first time, calling it a proud moment for the state’s sporting legacy. He further announced that the much-anticipated India-Pakistan match during the tourna-ment will be held on Punjab Day. “Punjab has given countless medals and cham-pions to the nation, yet ear-lier governments never ensured that the state got the opportunity to host major international sport-ing events. We have changed that mindset and brought Punjab to the cen-tre of India’s sporting map,” CM Bhagwant Singh Mann said.