VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has reaffirmed that his government would give priority to sports and encourage players who won medals in national and international events.
Asian Games medal winners from Andhra Pradesh, Koneru Hampi, B Anusha and Yerraji Jyothy called on the chief minister at his Camp Office here on Friday.
He lauded the players who brought laurels to the state and the country by winning medals in the Asian Games in China. The silver and gold medalists of the 19th Asian Games have shown the medals to the chief minister.
The chief minister said the youth at the village level should be encouraged to enable the state to excel in sports and games. “Start from there,” he told the officials, adding that they must devise ways to encourage such youths and distribute the playing kits to them.
Playgrounds must be set up in every mandal, he said.
The chief minister said that as per the government’s sports policy, he has released Rs 4. 29 crore towards cash incentives for 11 medal winners from the state who won silver medals, while five players won gold medals. “We have released Rs 20 lakh for silver medalist tennis player Saket Sai (Visakhapatnam), Rs 90 lakh for triple gold medalist archer Jyothy Surekha (NTR District), Rs 20 lakh for silver medalist badminton player Kidambi Srikanth (Guntur), Rs 50 lakh for silver and gold medalist badminton player Satwik Sairaj (Rajamahendravaram), Rs 20 lakh for silver medalist athlete Yerraji Jyothy (Visakhapatnam), Rs 20 lakh for silver medalist archer B Dheeraj, Rs 20 lakh for silver medalist chess player Koneru Hampi ( NTR district) and Rs 30 lakh for gold medalist cricketer B Anusha (Anantapur).
Sports minister RK Roja said the state government was working towards the development of sports across the state. “All the necessary sports facilities will be provided to the players,” she stated.
SAAP (Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh) MD Dhyana Chandra and official Ramakrishna were among those present.
