Thaindian News

Chandigarh, July 30 (IANS) The Haryana government Monday announced a reward of Rs.one crore for shooter Gagan Narang for winning a bronze medal for the country in the 10-metre Air Rifle event at the London Olympics. This is the first medal for India in the 2012 Games.

Even though Narang does not belong to Haryana, he has been given the reward under the category of sportspersons from the state as his family roots are from the northern state.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda announced the reward for Narang immediately after he won bronze in the shooting event in London Monday.

Narang, who lives in Hyderabad, had told Hooda in October 2010, after the New Delhi Commonwealth Games (CWG), that his family had lived in Haryana’s Panipat town, 180 km from here, for decades before moving down south.

Hooda said Narang has brought laurels to the state and the country.

The chief minister said players from Haryana winning a gold medal in the Olympics would get Rs.2.5 crore, silver medallists Rs.1.5 crore and those winning bronze Rs.one crore.

As the Haryana government doled out cash rewards, cars, mobiles and other goodies for medal-winning players from the state in the CWG and Asian Games (2010), Narang, who won four gold medals in shooting in Delhi, walked away with a cash bonanza of Rs.37.5 lakh.

This was the highest prize money among all the 35 players honoured at that time.

Each CWG gold medal winner had got Rs.15 lakh from the Haryana government. Those winning more than one gold medal got an additional Rs.7.5 lakh for every medal.

Narang and all other gold medallists also got one Maruti SX-4 car (priced around Rs.800,000), and a Nokia mobile phone.