Kolkata, Feb 20: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday, February 20, announced financial aid of Rs 5 lakh each to all sports bodies in the state nurturing Olympic talents.
The Chief Minister also loosened her purse strings for 13 top city clubs, each of which, she said, will get Rs 50 lakh from the state sports department for development of sports.
"I will tell Aroop Biswas (West Bengal Youth Affairs and Sports Minister) to allocate the funds," Banerjee said on the sidelines of a felicitation programme of eminent sports personalities here.
The Trinamool Congress supremo, who has consistently opposed the central government's demonetisation drive, said it has taken a toll on sports sponsorship.
"It is difficult for them (sports bodies) to run. It is because they organise sporting activities. They just need that push from us. Sponsorship has ebbed. How will players and organisations run without sponsorship?"
Banerjee also said the budget allocation in the Sports Policy formed by the state in 2015 has been increased.
Enlisting her government's achievements in building sports infrastructure, Banerjee said: "We have built 16 new stadiums, refurbished 46 and built 23 youth hostels."
The Chief Minister also said that she will compose a theme song for the sports department, and emphasised that there is need for one since it will foster identity and a sense of pride.
Incidentally, the Chief Minister was earlier criticised by the opposition for handing out liberal doles for thousands of clubs, which, they alleged, was just another means of squandering scarce public money for political reasons. Nearly 12,000 clubs have so far got these grants that range from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.
Special awards were dished out during the day to archer Atanu Das, who impressed with his fifth place finish in the qualification round in Rio Olympics, sprinter Debashree Mazumdar, and paddlers Soumyajit Ghosh and Mouma Das.