Chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh felicitated around 100 sportspersons, including veterans, with the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Award in Chandigarh on Tuesday. The CM also visited the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, to present the award to hockey legend and three-time Olympic gold medallist Balbir Singh Senior. The award, which was instituted in 1978, carries a cash prize of ₹2 lakh, a trophy of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in armour atop a steed, a blazer and a scroll. Saying that the award has been re-instituted after a decade and would now be an annual event, Amarinder added that he would recommend Balbir’s name for Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in the country.
Each of the awardee received a trophy, citation and cash incentive of ~ 2lakh
From page 01 CHANDIGARH : Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh honoured 101 outstanding sportspersons with the state highest sporting honour — Maharaja Ranjit Singh Awards — at a state-level function in Chandigarh on Tuesday. Sports minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi was also present on the occasion.
■ Former India hockey skipper and Punjab police DSP Rajpal Singh being honoured.
Triple Olympic hockey gold medallist Balbir Singh, who is hospitalised, couldn’t attend the ceremony. The Punjab CM will honour him at a special ceremony later.
Chandigarh, July 9
The Punjab Government after a gap of almost a decade re-introduced Maharaja Ranjit Singh awards and honoured 20 legends and 81 other players, who brought laurels to the state at a function, today.
The Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh honoured a total of 101 players with state’s highest honour ‘Maharaja Ranjit Singh Award’ along with Punjab Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi and Sanjay Kumar, Secretary Sports.
The winners were awarded with a cash award of Rs 2lakh along with a trophy memento. The Punjab Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi also announced that the government has decided to increase the prize money to Rs 5lakh from next year. “The Punjab government has decided to increase the prize money to Rs 5lakh from next year. We have also decided to increase the quota of inviting seats for awarding this prestigious award,” said Sodhi. “I don’t know the reason behind not giving the awards in past years. But keeping in mind its importance, we will ensure it to be regular feature. I congratulate the Sports Minister and Secretary Sports for their effort in bringing back the Punjab’s legacy,” said Captain Amarinder Singh. The amended sports policy of the state was also launched. Former players
Balbir Singh Sr, Milkha Singh, Gurbachan Singh Randhawa, Ajit Pal Singh, Bishan Singh Bedi, Kamaljeet Kaur Sandhu, Brigadier Harcharan Singh, Colonel Balbir Singh, Baldev Singh, Harmik Singh, Hardeep Singh, Jagjeet Singh, Gulshan Rai, Jaipal Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Balwinder Singh, Paramjit Singh and Harbhajan SinghAwardees for 2011
Rajpal Singh, Rajinder Singh Rahelu, Heena Sidhu, Mandeep Sidhu, Mandeep Kaur, Gagandeep Kaur, Dilawar Singh, Kuljit Singh, Jagdeep Singh, Komalpreet Shukla, Ravipal, Ranjit Kaur, Mankiran Kaur, Gurchand Singh, Hardeep Singh and Manjit Singh
2012
Navpreet Kaur, Sunita Rani, Gurinder Singh, Amrit Singh, Shammipreet Kaur, Kiranjit Kaur, Rajwant Kaur, Sarwanjit Singh, Sahil Pathania, Jashandeep Singh, Lakhbir Kaur, Navjot Kaur, Ranjit Singh and Mahabir Singh
2013
Mandeep Kaur, Amandeep Kaur, Sapna Dutta, Samit Singh and Triptpal Singh
2014
Davinder Singh, Gurbaaz Singh, Jasmine, Mandeep Singh and Baljit Singh
2015
Arpinder Singh, Trisha Deb, Shahbaz Singh Bhangoo, Dharamvir Singh, Aman Kumar, Rubi Tomar, Shiv Kumar, Vikas Thakur, Davinder Singh and Amandeep Sharma
2016
Swaran Singh Virk, Khushbir Kaur, Kanwalpreet Singh, Amjot Singh, Rekha Rani, Neelam Rani, Prabhjot Kaur Bajwa, Maninder Kaur, Gurwinder Singh, Rajwinder Kaur, Gurinder Singh, Malaika Goyal, Gurpreet Singh, Jasvir Kaur, Parul Gupta
2017
Raj Rani, Amandeep Kaur (handball) , Amandeep Kaur (hockey), Varinder Kumar, Ajitesh Kaushal, Davinder Singh and Sanjeev Kumar
Awardees for 2018
Manpreet Singh, Navjit Kaur Dhillon, Ramandeep Kaur, Gurjit Kaur, Randeep Kaur, Veerpal Kaur, Navneet Kaur, Sahil Chopra, Harshdeep Kaur and Veena Arora
