Patiala bagged the overall winner’s trophy in the Kheda Watan Punjab Diyan, the sports tournament conducted by the Punjab government across the state, on the concluding day in Ludhiana on Thursday.
In the closing ceremony attended by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Patiala bagged the winner’s trophy with a total of 202 gold medals, while Ludhiana claimed the second spot with 133 gold medals. SAS Nagar finished third in the competition with 123 gold medals.
The three-month long games were organised in nine districts namely Amritsar, Barnala, Faridkot, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Roopnagar, SAS Nagar and Sangrur. The government gave away a total cash prize of Rs 6.85 crore to 9,961 players.
The gold medal winners got a cash prize of Rs 10,000 each, while the silver medallists got Rs 7,000 each. The bronze medal winners got Rs 5,000 each.
“The Kheda Watan Punjab Diyan will be held every year in the state to promote sporting activity in every nook and cranny of Punjab. More than 6 lakh players competed in six different age-groups in the games. There were a total of 28 sports categories across block and state-level in the games. The state government will also give priority to the medal winners for jobs in Punjab,” said Mann while addressing the gathering.
Commonwealth Games medallist weight-lifter Vikas Thakur handed over the games flag to Mann at the ceremony. Mann then handed the flag to the Punjab sports department officials for the conduct of the games next year.
The state government has resumed Shaheed Bhagat Singh Youth Award, which will be bestowed to 46 youths from the state every year for outstanding contribution to several fields. The winners will get a cash prize of Rs 51,000 each. This award was stopped seven years ago, but this state government is resuming the award,” said Mann.