KATHMANDU, Nov 12: National Sports Council (NSC) handed over the prize money for the gold medalists of the Sixth National Games to the respective national associations amid a program in the capital on Monday.
NSC had decided to reward Rs 10,000 each to the gold medalists of individual events and Rs 5,000 each to the members of the gold medalist teams in the Sixth National Games held in Dhangadhi and Mahendranagar from February 26 to March 4.
NSC handed over the cash amount to the 30 sports associations among 32 sports included in the games. NSC did not release the cash to Nepal Basketball Association (NeBA) and Nepal Hockey Association (NHA) claiming that both the associations are yet to settle the arrears at the NSC. NSC has announced that the gold medalists of basketball and hockey would receive the cash incentives directly from the NSC office.
Altogether 594 players had won gold in the games and NSC would pay them Rs 4.385 million in total. NSC has said that 25 percent of the prize money would be deducted as tax.
Swimmer Shailesh Rana and Shreya Dhital would be the athletes to receive highest cash prize. Rana, who had won nine individual gold medals and another in team event, would receive Rs 95,000, while Dhital, who had clinched seven individual gold medals and another in team event, would receive Rs 75,000.
As athletics had the highest number of events during the Sixth National Games, Nepal Amateur Athletics Association (NAAA) received Rs 400,000.
NSC Member Secretary Yuvaraj Lama said that the award was delayed because the government did not allocate the budget in the previous fiscal year.
Lama claimed that the current NSC leadership is conscious about the development of sports and welfare of the athletes. He claimed that NSC is planning to shift its focus toward school and college as well. "We have decided to form School Sports Development Board to develop sports from the grassroots level," said Lama.
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