Only eight athletes from Uttar Pradesh have been able to make it to the 221-member Indian squad at the Commonwealth Games starting April 4 at Gold Cost in Australia.
In 2014, over a dozen athletes from UP had participated in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
Welcoming the Queen Baton of the Games at Taj Mahal in Agra in December last, UP sports minister Chetan Chauhan had promised to create a positive atmosphere for sports and sportspersons so that in the next five years, the state could produce medal winners in Olympics.
None of the eight athletes from UP selected for the Gold Coast event have any support from the government. The athletes include Seema Punia (discus), Ashish Kumar (artistic gymnastics), Jitu Rai (10m air pistol), Mohd Asab (double trap), Vandana Katariya (women’s hockey), Lalit Kumar Upadhyay (women’s hockey), Vandana Gupta (63 kg weightlifting) and Poonam Yadav (69 kg weightlifting)
General secretary of the UP Olympic Association Anandeshwar Pandey said: “These athletes have already proved their worth in the past CWG and Asian Games. I am hoping for a rich haul this time too.”
Pandey is planning to conduct the first-ever Youth National Games in Lucknow next year.
“We can have more athletes from the state at the CWG and upcoming Asian Games if we had good infrastructure for training and jobs for sportspersons,” he said, adding, “For the last several years, many athletes from UP are playing for other states as they get good infrastructure and jobs.”
As per the government policy, first three position holders at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games are given Rs 50 lakh, Rs 30 lakh and Rs 15 lakh in individual events, whereas in the team events the prize money break up is Rs 30 lakh (gold), Rs 15 lakh (silver) and Rs 10 lakh (bronze).
All the sportspersons who participate in these Games are given Rs 5 lakh each as token of appreciation.