Cash Award to Women Players of the State, Gujarat

What is the Cash Award to Women Players of the State?

Cash Award to Women Players of the State is an incentive scheme of the Sports Authority of Gujarat, which operates under the Sports, Youth and Cultural Activities Department of the Government of Gujarat. According to the Sports Authority of Gujarat portal, the scheme has been implemented since 1999-2000 and is governed by a Government Resolution dated 19 July 2000.

The purpose is direct. Women's participation in competitive sport in Gujarat lagged well behind men's at the end of the 1990s, and one visible barrier was cost, travel, kit, coaching and the lost earnings or study time that competing implies. A modest, guaranteed cash reward for a podium finish makes that calculation easier for a family, and gives a girl who wins a district or state medal something tangible to show for it.

The Sports Authority of Gujarat records the scheme's reach in plain numbers. As of 2021-22, more than 24,700 women athletes had received awards worth more than Rs 1,067.16 lakh cumulatively. In 2021-22 alone, 514 athletes received Rs 20.23 lakh. Those figures show what the scheme actually is: a broad-based, small-value, high-volume incentive, not a headline prize for a handful of elite names. Gujarat runs separate schemes, Khel Pratibha Puraskar and Shaktidoot, for elite and international-level recognition.

How much money does the scheme pay?

The Sports Authority of Gujarat sets the award by finishing position:

Three points matter for anyone planning a claim:

• The award is per winning performance, not per athlete per year. A player who places in two separate recognised competitions files two claims.
• The award is paid into the athlete's own bank account. It is not handed over in cash at a district office, and it is not paid to a coach or club on the player's behalf.
• Placing fourth or lower earns nothing under this scheme. There is no participation payment here; Khel Mahakumbh and other Sports Authority of Gujarat programmes handle broader participation support.

Who is eligible for the women players cash award?

You can claim if:

• You are a woman or girl athlete. The scheme exists specifically to encourage female participation in sport.
• You are a resident of Gujarat and represent the state or a district within it.
• You finished in the top three, first, second or third, in a qualifying competition.
• Your competition was held at state or national level under a recognised sports association or federation, and you can produce the certificate to prove it.

You are not eligible if:

• You are a male athlete. This scheme is exclusively for women players; Gujarat's other sports incentive schemes are open to all.
• You are not a resident of Gujarat. A player representing another state cannot apply here.
• You finished outside the top three.
• Your event was not held under a recognised association — an unaffiliated club tournament, a private league or an invitational meet without federation sanction does not qualify.
• You cannot produce the result certificate. An oral claim, a newspaper clipping or a photograph of a medal is not sufficient evidence for a sanction file.
• You have already been paid for the same result. Duplicate claims on one certificate are rejected.

What documents are required?

Keep the originals available. District offices routinely verify originals against the photocopies attached to the claim.

How to apply for the Cash Award to Women Players

The award is claimed offline through the district sports administration, supported by online player registration. Follow these steps:

1. Register as a player on the Sports Authority of Gujarat portal. Open sportsauthority.gujarat.gov.in and complete Player Registration. This puts your details in the state sports database and makes the later verification faster.
2. Collect your result certificate immediately after the competition. Do not leave the venue without it. Getting a duplicate certificate months later from an association office is the single biggest cause of delay in these claims.
3. Download the application form from the scheme page at sportsauthority.gujarat.gov.in/scheme-for-award-to-women-players, where the Sports Authority of Gujarat publishes the Government Resolution and the form together. If the download fails, the District Sports Officer's office issues the same form over the counter.
4. Fill the form and attach the document set, result certificate, association certificate, Gujarat residence proof, Aadhaar copy, bank passbook copy, date of birth proof and a photograph.
5. Submit the claim to your District Sports Officer. The district office verifies the certificate with the association, checks your residence and bank details, and forwards the sanction proposal to the Sports Authority of Gujarat.
6. Collect an acknowledgement with the date of submission, and keep it. It is the reference you will need for any follow-up.
7. Watch your bank account. The award is credited by transfer once the sanction is approved.

How to check the status of your award claim

1. Ask the District Sports Officer's office for the file number and current stage of your claim. District offices hold the sanction file until it is cleared.
2. Quote your acknowledgement date and certificate details when you follow up: claims are traced by competition and certificate, not by name alone.
3. Escalate to Gandhinagar if the district office cannot account for the file, using the Sports Authority of Gujarat numbers below.

Why women players cash award claims get rejected

• The competition was not recognised. Verify sanction status before you compete, not after you win.
• The result certificate is missing, unsigned or undated. Certificates without the association's seal are commonly returned.
• Name mismatch between the certificate, Aadhaar and bank passbook. A changed surname after marriage must be supported by proof.
• Bank account inactive, closed, or in someone else's name. The award cannot be credited to a parent's or coach's account except under the minor route.
• Duplicate claim on a certificate already paid.
• Residence proof missing, leaving Gujarat domicile unconfirmed.
• Claim filed very late, by which time association records needed for verification are harder to retrieve.

Most rejections are documentation problems, not eligibility problems, and can be fixed by re-submitting a corrected file through the same district office.

Key dates

The scheme has no annual application window. Claims follow competitions, so the practical rule is to file as soon as the result certificate is in hand, within the same financial year as the event wherever possible. Sanctions are processed against the year's budget allocation, so a claim submitted promptly clears faster than one filed at the end of the year.

Where to raise a grievance

• District Sports Officer, first point of contact for any claim held up at verification or sanction stage.
• Sports Authority of Gujarat, Administrative Building, Sector 13-B, near Kh-3 Circle, Vavol, Gandhinagar - 382016.
• Director General to 079-23263650, dg-sag@gujarat.gov.in.
• Secretary to 079-23263651, sec-sag@gujarat.gov.in.
• General enquiry to 9714097760.

The award is paid free of charge and directly to the athlete. No coach, association official or agent is entitled to a share of it, and no fee should be paid to have a claim processed.