Rs 1.5 crore for hockey players

M.S. Unnikrishnan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 22

Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Dr M.S.Gill, playing a pro-active role to mop up funds to clear the financial dues owed to the hockey players —both men and women — today spoke to the Chief Ministers of Haryana, Rajasthan and Assam, requesting them to contribute to the welfare fund of the hockey players, and collected Rs 1.5 crore in one stroke. Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda immediately sanctioned Rs 1 crore while the Assam CM Tarun Gogoi gave Rs 50 lakh to the hockey fund. Dr Gill was also expecting a positive response from Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot.

Meanwhile, Hockey India acting president Vidya Stokes assured that the women players will not be discriminated against, and they will be given par for the course treatment, as had been meted out to the men players. She said the delay in payment for women was due to shortage of funds as Hockey India was waiting for financial aids from various State Governments and corporate houses who had promised to bail out hockey when the men players struck work, demanding celarance of their past dues, and assurance of a better deal in future. She said HI was yet to receive funds promised by the Governments of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Shree Cements, Hindi film actors and Sunil Gavaskar on behalf of cricketers.

Stokes said the HI did not differentiate between men and women players and the women will be paid at par with the men. She said the players will also be graded for the purpose of annual contracts. The women players, presently undergoing a coaching camp in Madhya Pradesh, had protested by wearing black arm bands as HI had not cleared their dues, and rejected HI’s immediate relief of Rs 50,000 to each player. But HI said the Rs 50,000 it was ready to pay was just an advance, pending clearance of other dues, which will be made once the new elected HI body was put in place after February 7.

Stokes said men’s team captain Rajpal Singh and women’s captain Mamta Kharab have been included in the six-member panel, comprising former Indian captains M.P.Ganesh, Ajit Pal Singh, Zafar Iqbal and Dhanraj Pillai, for managing the hockey fund, money for which is coming from various sources. The other two members in the panel are a representative each from the Indian Olympic Association and Hockey India.