50 SPORTS REVIEW JULY 2016 HARYANA REVIEW JULY 2016 SPORTS 51

spective franchises in the inaugural Apart from serving as a families,” said Indian team ace for- edition of the Pro League ward Rani Rampal. held last December. source of motivation for “Apart from serving as a source other village girls to join PRO LEAGUES of motivation for other village girls sports for name, fame In the inaugural edition of the Pro Sports cash awards help to join sports to secure for them- Wrestling League held in December selves name, fame and money, these and money, the Phogat last year, Rs 11 crore was given to the wrestling sisters have also contrib- wrestling sisters have wrestlers representing six-franchisee uted a lot to the village’s economy in also contributed a lot to teams. Out of this, wrestlers from pump up rural economy a big way. After their success in the Haryana got about Rs 5 crore and, be- the village’s economy 2010 , they ing a rural sport, all wrestlers come constructed a wrestling hall and ex- the rural areas. The villages of Majri from the villages. With 90 per cent of Haryana sportspersons coming from the rural tended their house, which gave work and Ratangarh which are across the In the fourth season of the Pro Ka- areas, the maximum of the Rs 150 crore they got in cash awards for opportunity to masons and other road are hubs of women basketball baddi League which started on June construction workers in our and the and netball players. Girls from both 25, about 100 players representing winning medals in various competitions, has gone to the villages nearby villages,” said Amit Kumar, villages got more than Rs 50 lakh for eight franchises got Rs 12.82 crore. sarpanch of Village. winning medals in various nation- Half of the players are from Haryana and helped in giving the rural economy a big push In April, Sonepat district got Rs al championships,” Mr P S Hooda, and all come from the rural areas. 3.5 crore out of which about Rs 3 District Sports Officer, Sonepat, told Pai village in Kaithal, Rindhana and Saurabh Duggal preferring villages over the hum- medals winners in various national crore was given to the players from Haryana Review. Kathura villages in Sonepat district drum of city life, the maximum of championships, including school na- the rural areas. The girls from Majri The handball players from the are the main gainers from the Pro ncredible it may sound but it is Rs 150 crore, given in cash awards by tionals and all- inter-university village in the district got Rs 46 lakh villages in Narvana tehsil of Jind Kabbadi League. true! During the last four years, the Haryana Government, has gone meets held in 2013-14 and 2014-15. for winning national medals in bas- district got Rs 1.32 crore for winning Isportspersons from Haryana got, to the villages and contributed in a The Balali village in Bhiwani ketball and netball. national medals during the last two DANGAL, A TRADITION WRESTLING hold your breath, a whooping Rs 150 big way to lifting the rural economy. district which houses famous Phogat “The common strand that runs years. Wrestling is part of culture and crore in cash awards for winning In the last one year only, Harya- wrestling sisters saw about Rs 3 through the entire state is that the “In the last decade, sports has tradition in the rural areas of Hary- medals in various national and na players walked away with Rs 90 crore coming through Geeta, Babita, maximum number of our national come to be perceived in Haryana vil- na. Dangals, the traditional Indian international competitions under the crore in cash awards from the state Vinesh, Ritu, Priyanka and Sangee- and international medal winners lages as a big opportunity for landing wrestling competition on mud pits, state’s sports policy. With ninety per government. Out of this, a sum of Rs ta in the last one year. Besides, the hail from villages. Take Sonepat dis- government job. The rural areas organised in the villages, help the cent of the Haryana sportspersons 27.60 crore was distributed in the last had also got Rs 1.17 trict for instance. More than 90 per where land holding is less and there wrestlers in making their living. hailing from the rural areas and still two months (April-May, 2016) to the crore for competing for their re- cent of our cash awardees come from are no big industries in the nearby In March, the Haryana Gov- areas, the youths are looking towards ernment organised the country’s government jobs for a better living, biggest-ever prize money dangal and they are realising this dream with Rs 2.1 crore as total prize mon- through sports quota. ey. Mausam Khatri of Panji Jatan This explains how in Bhiwani, at village in Sonepat won the dangal least one thousand village youths got and got Rs 1 crore. The wrestlers Babita in front of the wrestling government jobs, including in the from state got majority share of the arena they have constructed in police and paramilitary forces, over total prize money by winning about Billai village of the years,” said SS Nandal, former Rs 2 crore. deputy director, Haryana Sports “Cash awards are provider of Department. substantial disposable income to “Now, in addition to jobs, the play- the players in the rural setting in ers are also getting hefty cash awards Haryana, which trigger the rural for the national and international economy. The money involved in the medals which has brought about a sports can also be seen as a source vertical growth in their living stand- of motivation for the youth,” said ards,” added Nandal. Aswini Kumar Nanda, Professor In the last one year, the hockey with the Center for Research in Rural girls from Shahbad in Kurukshetra and Industrial Development (CRRID), District got about Rs 3 crore in cash Chandigarh. g awards. “Shahbad is a very small This article is the result of ground town and the maximum number of reportage done under the aegis of girls, who play hockey, come from the Inclusive Media-UNDP Fellow- very humble background. They are ship-2015 to study sports as a vehicle either from the nearby small locali- of empowerment in rural Haryana. ties or from the villages. Because of The writer is senior sports these cash awards, they are able to journalist with Hindustan Times, uplift the living standards of their Chandigarh