Manu Bhaker won a gold medal in the 2018 Youth Olympics after which Haryana minister Anil Vij had announced a cash prize of Rs 2 crore for her.
New Delhi: Three months after Haryana’s youth affairs minister Anil Vij promised gold medallist shooter Manu Bhaker a cash prize of Rs 2 crore, she took to Twitter questioning whether the government’s promise was actually a ‘jumla’.
“Some one in Haryana is really playing with Youth Olympic games cash prize!!!!! (sic),” Bhaker wrote in a tweet, adding, “Sir Please confirm if it is correct… Or just Jumla… @anilvijminister.”
Some one in Haryana is really playing with Youth Olympic games cash prize!!!!! @narendramodi @mlkhattar @anilvijminister @Ra_THORe @AshokKhemka_IAS … Is it really for encouraging or disheartening players …… Please ….Let me play … https://t.co/lRauQLohL3
— Manu Bhaker (@realmanubhaker) January 4, 2019
Anil Vij on 10 October last year congratulated Bhaker on Twitter for winning a gold medal in the Youth Olympics. In a subsequent tweet, Vij had declared a cash prize of Rs 2 crore for the young athlete.
“These are nothing but political stunts. No one ever contacted us, there was no cheque, or questions about our bank information,” said Ram Kishan, Manu Bhaker’s father.
“We have received no money,” he added.
ThePrint tried to contact Vij, but he was unavailable for a comment. This report will be updated as and when he responds.
Prize scaled down?
While Vij’s tweet had boasted of outdoing previous governments and awarding Rs 2 crore, a notification issued by the Sports and Youth Department of the Haryana government mentioned the revised award as Rs 1 crore.
The notification was issued on 27 December.
“There are people saying that money will be given on 26 January. But in case of that, they have scaled down the prize from Rs 2 crores to Rs 1 crore,” Kishan told ThePrint.
Manu Bhaker, who hails from Jhajjar, Haryana, has won several accolades for India. She won a gold medal in the women’s 10m air pistol event in the 2018 Youth Olympics, and has also won two gold medals at the 2018 ISSF World Cup. She is likely to represent India in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.