The Gujarat government has decided to honour two players from the State in the victorious World Cup cricket team with the State's highest sports award “Eklavya Puraskar.”
Announcing this here on Sunday, Chief Minister Narendra Modi said Gujarat was proud of Yusuf Pathan and Munaf Patel and they would be given the award for their contribution to lifting the World Cup.
Congratulating the entire team on the victory, Mr. Modi said the tournament had aroused the feeling of patriotism among the people and India's talented squad had brought glory and laurels to the nation.
Award for Raina, Chawla
Atiq Khan writes from Lucknow:
Suresh Raina and Piyush Chawla will be bestowed with the Manyavar Kanshiram International Sports Award instituted by the Uttar Pradesh government. Mr. Raina and Mr. Chawla are from the State.
The announcement was made by the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Sunday. She said Mr. Raina and Mr. Chawla had brought laurels to the country and the State.
They played a significant role in enabling India to enter the finals and win the World Cup, she said in a release.
Ms. Mayawati said the State government was committed to encouraging sports and budding sportsmen.
Marcus Dam writes from Kolkata:
The Railway Ministry will provide lifetime 1{+s}{+t} AC complimentary passes to the members of the Indian cricket team that won the ICC World Cup 2011 in Mumbai on Saturday.
The passes will be available to the players and one companion for unlimited free travel anywhere in the country, according to a release issued by the Ministry on Sunday.
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee congratulated the cricket team. She has also requested that a national holiday be declared by the Centre in recognition of the achievement.
“I have spoken to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about it,” said Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee who also congratulated the team. “Now it is up to the Centre.”
“I feel especially proud… When we won the World Cup in 1983 led by Kapil Dev I happened to be the Finance Minister. Today again I am the Finance Minister,” he said.
Cash prize for Sachin, Zaheer
PTI reports from Mumbai:
Maharashtra government announced a cash prize of Rs 1 crore each for Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan made the announcement at a 'high tea' organised by President Pratibha Patil here. After the BCCI announced a cash prize of Rs 1 crore each for the members of the World Cup winning team, the Delhi government had declared a similar prize for the players hailing from the Capital.
Keywords: World Cup cricket, India celebrations
Mr. Kumar, If the value of money diffrentiates between Hindus and Muslims then one cannot stay hoodwinked from the bias. Had they been Hindus, you would not have tried to use this ignorant comment. The whole country knows that Narendra Modi is a Muslim hater. Had he his own way, he would have ignored even giving a rupee as an award. I can understand how much of a mental reluctancy Mr. Modi must have undergone to even sanction this one lakh.
I think both the members of cricket team from Gujarat Yusuf, Munaf and if I am correct members from cricket team from Uttar Pradesh Raina,Chawla ....their gifts did not compare with the gifts from Delhi or Mumbai government. There should be some form of understanding between governments to have a reasonable equal number across so one player is not left feeling sad. Nowadays one cannot even buy a flat in Mumbai for 1 crore but definately it is a big number however 1 lach is respectable but one sometime cannot buy a ticket to watch World cup at Wandkede stadium
@Sameen ... these awards were already announced before world cup .. and Eklavya award is the highest award conferred by Gujarat for sportsperson achieving something great. It would be nice if people dont look at monetary value of awards.
We are proud of Dhoni - be firm and play with the same spirit and talent in IPL also! At the same time it is shock and shame to see Gujrat govt gave only one lakh to its heroes Munaf and Yusuf bhai .
Yes a great achievement by team India and congratulation to the entire nation. One thing I don't understand is that BCCI has decided to give big sums of money to each player who thoroughly deserve it.
My only question is why do state government give them the money and where do they get this money from. Surely these money could be given to millions of poor and the needy.
Why are we giving money to Those cricketers... arent they getting enough money from endorsements and IPL. That's after 28 yrs we are winning it.. They should feel sorry for getting the cup after 28 yrs.
And what has Sachin done so far to help India? Forget his game for a moment.. he is sitting on pile of millions of dollars and so also is truth for other cricketers. What have they done so far in name of charity? Just making more money and our govt goes crazy and awards them crores of money. We should be encouraging them to do some kind of social work and they should be doing something for India. I feel ashamed everyone is giving them bounty while other sports suffer... we have genunie worth and title in boxing and hockey but who gives a damn.
hi .. i am bangladeshi fan of team india. to me the best are - captain dhoni for good leadership,yuvraj overall excellent for everything and zaheer for superb bowling. congratulations from dhaka
1 crore each from Maharashtra govt, 1 crore each from Delhi Govt and 1 LAKH from Gujarat govt....thats just a joke...Amitabh got more than that to promote tourism from Gujurat govt....is it because they are from minority?
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