Jharkhand govt announces Rs 50 lakh each for women hockey players from state

The Jharkhand government will provide Rs 50 lakh each to Hockey players Salima Tete and Nikki Pradhan, hailing from the state, for their stellar performance in the Tokyo Olympics, Chief Minister Hemant Soren said on Friday.

The medal may have proved elusive but the way the Indian women's hockey team fought against the Great Britain team in the bronze medal match is commendable, Soren said. The history-making Indian women's hockey team's dream of securing its maiden Olympic medal remained unfulfilled as it lost 3-4 to Great Britain in a hard-fought bronze play-off but the stout-hearted side managed to record its best ever finish at the Games in Tokyo Olympics.

"I salute the entire Indian women's hockey team....For the better performance of the daughters of Jharkhand, the government will modify its earlier decision to give and provide Rs 50 lakh each to Jharkhand's hockey players," Soren said. Salima Tete (19) hails from Badkichapar village in Simdega district and Nikki Pradhan (27) from Hesal village in Khunti were part of the womens hockey team that made history in Tokyo earlier in the day. The Jharkhand government had declared before the start of the Olympics that Rs two crore would be given to the players of the state for winning gold, Rs one crore for winning silver and Rs 50 lakh for winning bronze.

Soren said though the team could not win bronze but their stellar performance has won hearts and the Jharkhand government will convert players' ancestral mud houses into pucca houses. He said both the daughters of Jharkhand made wonderful contributions to the women's hockey team. Soren said he along with people of Jharkhand expressed gratitude to players and promised to make available all possible facilities for players to hone their skills for future games. While Britain bounced back to win the match 4-3, Indian team's efforts in Tokyo were widely applauded for never giving up throughout their game.