Chandigarh: Wrestler-turned-politician Vinesh Phogat has asked for both a cash prize of Rs 4 crore and a plot of land from the three options the Haryana government offered her nearly two weeks ago. This is part of the state’s commitment to honour her with benefits equivalent to those of an Olympic silver medallist despite her disqualification from the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Under state government policy, the government gave Phogat a choice between a cash reward, a Group-A government job, or a residential plot under the Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP).
Praveen Attrey, the Haryana government’s media adviser, told ThePrint that Phogat had opted for the cash reward and written to the Haryana sports department about her decision. “The department received her communication on Tuesday.”
However, a source in the sports department told ThePrint that Phogat had requested both the cash and land options, foregoing the government job.
Her argument, they said, was that the government policy gives her all three but Phogat, now a Congress MLA from Julana in Jind district, doesn’t need a job.
Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini had first promised to reward Phogat as an Olympic medallist in August 2024 after she was disqualified from the finals of the women’s 50kg freestyle wrestling category for being over the weight limit.
In March this year, Phogat raised the issue of the promise remaining unfulfilled during Haryana assembly’s budget session.
“It is not about money. It is about respect,” she said.
Just days later, the state cabinet approved the decision to offer her Olympic benefits under its sports policy, acknowledging her historic Olympic performance.
The state’s sports policy, one of the most generous in the country, awards Rs 6 crore to Olympic gold medallists, Rs 4 crore to silver medallists, and Rs 2.5 crore to bronze medallists, alongside job opportunities and land allotments.
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Phogat’s stellar run at the Paris Olympics
At Paris Olympics last August, the 29-year-old had initially scripted history, becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to reach an Olympic final. However, during the mandatory weigh-in ahead of the final bout, Phogat was found to be 100 grams over the 50kg weight limit, leading to her disqualification under the stringent rules of United World Wrestling.
Her disqualification, though strictly under Olympics rules, was linked by many with her 2023 protest, alongside fellow wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, against former Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh who is under investigation by Delhi police on charges of sexual harassment.
After Phogat won her silver, Punia, in a post on X, wrote, “Vinesh Phogat was crushed with kicks in her own country, dragged on the streets. This girl could conquer the world, but she lost to the system in this country.”
On 7 August 2024, as the nation grappled with Phogat’s disqualification, CM Saini took to X to say she was “Haryana’s pride” and would be felicitated like a silver medallist. “She might not have competed in the final due to some reason, but she is a champion for all of us.”
Phogat announced her retirement from wrestling on 8 August 2024, saying she lacked the strength to continue, and transitioned into politics, joining the Congress. She won the Julana seat in the October 2024 Haryana assembly elections.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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