Steel Ministry awarded wrestler Sushil Kumar

Wrestler Sushil Kumar, who won bronze medal in 66-kg category freestyle competition in Beijing Olympics, was on Thursday awarded by the Ministry for Steel. Steel Minister Ramvilas Paswan handed over a cheque for Rs.25 Lakhs as the reward for his historic performance.

The reward was announced by the Minister immediately after Shushil Kumar won the medal in Beijing. The amount has been jointly paid by Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the National Minerals Development Corporation (NMDC) and the Manganese Oars India Limited.

Sushil Kumar was among three wrestlers who represented India. The other two were Yogeshwar Dutt and Rajiv Tomar. SAIL will bear the cost of training of the three wrestlers for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Presenting the cheque Shri Paswan said that the Ministry of Steel will make efforts to help sports organisations/state governments to create world class sports infrastructure in the future. He said, the NMDC has started preparations for selecting 10 promising sports persons between the age group of 13 and 20 and provide them scholarships to enable them to undertake institutional training.

It will also provide sponsorship support to the 2010 Commonwealth Games and start a world-class sports academy in the tribal areas of Chhattisgarh. RINL has also planned to establish a tribal sports Academy on the Andhra-Orissa border. Shri Paswan said, SAIL is also contemplating to set up a Rs.10 crore sports fund for skill development in various national/international sports events.