Ranchi: The sports department has approved cash rewards worth nearly Rs 4.51 crore for 493 medal-winning athletes across 24 disciplines.The decision was taken at a high-level committee meeting chaired by sports director Chhavi Ranjan on Sept 8. The department had received 911 applications from districts for medals won between April 1, 2024, and Jan 31 this year.Of these, 510 applications were initially recommended as eligible, while 401 were rejected at the office level. After scrutinising medal certificates and verifying credentials, the committee cleared 493 athletes for the awards.The selected sportspersons include medal winners in hockey, football, lawn bowls, modern pentathlon, archery, gymnastics, wushu, athletics, cycling, boxing, wrestling, weightlifting, shooting, badminton and para sports, among others. Their tally includes 241 gold, 136 silver, 107 bronze and nine shared medals.Among those approved is Ranchi’s Sunita Kumari, who will receive Rs 75,000 for winning a silver medal at the 2025 National Para Volleyball event.Kumari had earlier drawn attention for continuing her athletic career while working as a sweeper at the sports department office. Ranjan said her application, recommended by the DSO office, was placed before the committee after her credentials were verified with the association concerned.The committee also recommended another meeting to consider the remaining applications and those submitted by coaches.
