Lifetime Achievement Awardees will automatically be eligible for the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Award, announces Rana Sodhi

Lifetime Achievement Awardees will automatically be eligible for the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Award, announces Rana Sodhi

Harshabab Sidhu
Nabaz-e-Punjab, Chandigarh, September 14:
Punjab Sports & Youth Services and NRI Affairs Minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi today announced that the Lifetime Achievement Awardees will automatically be eligible for the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Award, the coveted awards of the state of Punjab. The Minister announced this development, while honouring the winners of Arjuna, Dhyan Chand and Tenzing Norgay Awards here at his official residence.
The Sports Minister said that in the sports policy-2018 formulated under the leadership of Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh, the winners of Arjuna Award and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award were already entitled to receive Maharaja Ranjit Singh Awards and 101 sports persons were honoured with the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Award in the year 2019 under this policy. The policy will now onwards cover all National Sports Award winners including Dhyan Chand and Dronacharya Awards. He said that the Lifetime Achievement Awards winners (Dronacharya and Dhyan Chand Awardees) would automatically be considered as eligible for Maharaja Ranjit Singh Awards.
The Sports Minister further announced that there will be no annual income limit on the pension given to veteran players. “Whatever the annual income of the veteran player, he will continue to be entitled to a pension”, he added.
Punjab hockey player Akashdeep Singh was bestowed with the prestigious Arjuna Award this year, while Kuldeep Singh Bhullar (Athletics), Ajit Singh (Hockey), Manpreet Singh (Kabaddi), Manjit Singh (Rowing), Sukhwinder Singh (Football) and Lakha Singh (Boxing) were given Major Dhyan Chand Award. Similarly, Colonel Sarfaraz Singh has been conferred the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award. Rana sodhi exhorted all the players to further accomplish their set goals and bring laurel to the state.
While the players shared their experiences of the sports arena, they and their relatives expressed gratitude towards Sports Minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi. The Sports Minister also assured the players that their demands would be resolved soon.
Meanwhile, Sports Minister Rana Sodhi announced that Lakha Singh, a prominent boxer living a miserable life, would be given the job of coach in the sports department, instructing Director Sports to take immediate action in this regard. He said that a job of a boxing coach would be given this month to boxer Lakha Singh, an Asian Games medalist and an Olympian boxer, who was earning livelihood by driving a taxi these days.