Taking a cue from Haryana, which has a record of churning out top players in sports, Himachal Pradesh is planning to study the sports policy of its neighbouring state for fresh ideas to be implemented in the hill state. State sports minister Vikramaditya Singh has directed his department to study Haryana’s sports policy for fresh ideas so that they could be replicated in Himachal.

“The state has excelled in the field of sports and, probably, has the best sports policy in the country. I have directed officials to study the Haryana model and pick up pointers that can be implemented here,” he said.

The sports minister has been holding meetings with officials to ensure speedy disbursement of cash rewards to medal winners to begin with. Himachal is yet to offer cash rewards to the 2022 Commonwealth Games and National Games medal winners.

Singh said the ministry will propose to create a separate head for disbursal of monetary awards to ensure there were no delays. “The delay is taking place because the matter has to be taken up with the finance department. To ensure cash rewards are given out promptly, we will propose that a separate head is created under which part of the budget will be kept for this purpose. This will expedite the whole process,” the minister said.

He further said he will request the chief minister to enhance the allocation for sports in the upcoming budget. “We need to build infrastructure for which more capital expenditure and funds will be required. We will reach out to industries, private companies and hydel projects for funds under the CSR initiative,” he added.

With the hill state having the potential for winter sports, Singh said his department was also looking at launching sports such as skiing, mountaineering and snowboarding – which are available in Manali – in other parts of the state.

“We will explore the possibility of holding winter sports in the Chanshal valley in collaboration with the tourism department,” he said.

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