Sports Awards and Incentive Scheme (Cash Awards to Medal Winners), Haryana

What is Haryana's Sports Awards and Incentive Scheme?

Haryana's Sports Awards and Incentive Scheme is the cash award and incentive programme of the Sports Department, Government of Haryana, run through the Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs at Khel Bhavan, Tau Devilal Sports Complex, Sector 3, Panchkula. It appears on the Haryana State DBT Portal as "52 Sports Awards and Incentive Scheme" under the Department of Sports and Youth Affairs.

The substance of the scheme sits in section 26 of the Haryana Sports and Physical Fitness Policy 2015, headed "Incentives to Sportspersons; Cash Award etc.". The policy's reasoning is stated directly: recognising medal-winning sportspersons by way of cash award is the most effective way of promoting excellence in sports, and such awards enhance prestige and motivate better performance.

Haryana's award rates are among the highest offered by any Indian state, and the 2015 policy revised almost every slab upward from the earlier schedule. The policy also records that the scope of awards shall be suitably increased or modified and notified by the state government from time to time, so a sportsperson should always confirm the current rate with the District Sports and Youth Affairs Officer before assuming a figure.

A note on the name: readers often assume the "52" means 52 sports disciplines. It does not. The number is the budget listing prefix on the DBT portal, in the same way the department's other listed scheme carries the prefix 789. The award schedule itself is organised by tournament, across 22 tournament categories.

How much are the Haryana sports cash awards?

The revised award money in the 2015 policy, by tournament category:

Veteran and Master athletics awards apply in all age groups.

Who is eligible for a Haryana sports cash award?

You can apply if:

• You represented the state of Haryana in the sport. The policy limits the cash award to sportspersons who represented Haryana.
• For national-level competitions, you represented Haryana in the national team.
• You or your parents are resident or domiciled in Haryana, and you can produce a Haryana Resident (Domicile) Certificate from the competent authority.
• Your achievement falls in the preceding financial year, or within a special window the department has opened.
• You won a medal or achieved a qualifying position, or participated at a level where a participation award is provided.

You are not eligible if:

• You did not represent Haryana, even if you live in the state.
• You cannot produce a Haryana Resident Certificate for yourself or your parents. The policy makes this a mandatory enclosure.
• Your achievement is from an earlier year outside the eligible window. The policy states that no award for past performance or achievements will be considered, so an old medal is not eligible unless a special one-time window is running.
• Your tournament is not in the notified list of award categories.

Two rules shape how much you actually receive. In the same sport, the first medal is paid in full and additional medals are paid at half the amount of the second winning medal. For team events, the amount of cash award for each member of a position-holding team equals the amount payable to a position holder in an individual event; no team-size discount.

What documents are required?

How to apply for a Haryana sports cash award

1. Watch for the department's notice inviting applications on haryanasports.gov.in. The department opens a window covering a defined achievement period, for example, the notice inviting applications for achievements from 01.04.2021 to 31.12.2022, which closed on 28 February 2023.
2. Collect your Haryana Resident (Domicile) Certificate from the competent authority. This is a mandatory enclosure and is the single document most applicants underestimate the time needed for.
3. Assemble your achievement record, medal or position certificate, participation certificate where applicable, and evidence that you represented Haryana, including national team selection papers for national-level events.
4. Submit the application through your District Sports and Youth Affairs Officer. The policy requires applications to be received through the concerned district officer, so an application sent directly to Panchkula will be routed back.
5. Give the district office your bank details so the award can be released without a further round of correspondence.
6. Follow up with the district office and check the "List of Awardees" section on haryanasports.gov.in, where the department publishes those who have been sanctioned awards.

What else does the scheme give besides cash?

The 2015 policy attaches several further incentives to a medal-winning performance.

• Support to the mother institution. Where an athlete who participated in international events qualifies for the cash award scheme, the institution that produced them is to be given financial support to the tune of 10 per cent of the award value, for infrastructure and equipment to help budding sportspersons in that institution.
• Increment for medal-winning employees. Employees who secure first, second or third position in recognised national or international competitions after appointment are given the incentive of an increment.
• Rewards for coaches. The policy records that coaches of medal winners will also be rewarded, for which a separate scheme was proposed.
• Welfare measures under section 27, an insurance scheme against sports accidents and injuries, a pension scheme for eminent sportspersons, honorarium and pension for Arjuna, Dhyan Chand and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awardees from the state in addition to central incentives, and out-of-turn plot allotment in urban estates for international medal winners.

What state sports awards does Haryana give?

Section 28 of the policy sets out the state's named awards.

• Bhim Award, the highest sports award of the state, given to 11 sportspersons: 5 in individual events, 3 in team events and 2 for para and mentally challenged sportspersons. Given once in a lifetime, based on the previous four years' achievements.
• Eklavya Award for junior players: five juniors a year, 3 in individual and 2 in team events, based on the previous two years' achievements, carrying Rs 1 lakh with a memento, scroll, blazer and tie or scarf.
• Maharana Pratap Award for lifetime contribution to sports by a man; Rs 2 lakh with memento, scroll, blazer and tie or scarf, annually.
• Rani Laxmi Bai Award for lifetime contribution to sports by a woman; Rs 2 lakh, annually.
• Guru Vashisht Award for one outstanding coach, whether working in government or the private sector: Rs 2 lakh, annually.
• Vikramaditya Award for an outstanding referee, umpire or judge: Rs 2 lakh, annually.
• Award for the best physical education teacher, PTI or DPE: Rs 1 lakh, annually.
• Award for the best performing sports association: Rs 5 lakh, to be used by the association for the promotion of its game.

Why a cash award claim gets rejected

• No Haryana Resident or Domicile Certificate enclosed with the application.
• The sportsperson did not represent Haryana, or represented another state in the relevant championship.
• The achievement falls outside the eligible period, since awards are for the preceding financial year unless a special window is open.
• The application did not come through the District Sports and Youth Affairs Officer.
• A second medal in the same sport claimed at full value, when the rule pays half the amount of the second winning medal for additional medals.
• The tournament is not in the notified schedule of award categories.

Help and grievance redressal

• District Sports and Youth Affairs Officer for your district, the office through which every application must pass. District office numbers are listed on haryanasports.gov.in under Contact Us.
• Director, Sports Department, Haryana, Khel Bhavan, Tau Devilal Sports Complex, Sector 3, Panchkula: telephone 0172-2992868, email sportshry@gmail.com.
• Principal Secretary to Government, Haryana, Sports Department, Haryana Civil Secretariat, Chandigarh, telephone 0172-2740926.
• CM Window at cmharyanacell.nic.in for a written state-level grievance.

No fee is charged for a cash award application. The department publishes its list of awardees, so a sanctioned award can be verified independently.

How to check your application status

There is no online tracking ID or portal login for this scheme, since the cash award is an offline, file-based process routed through your district office. Status checking works through three channels instead.

1. Check the "List of Awardees" page on haryanasports.gov.in. Once the Sports Department finishes scrutiny of a notified application window, it publishes the names of sanctioned awardees on this page, organised by the achievement period the notice covered. Finding your name here confirms your award has been approved; it does not by itself confirm the money has been credited.
2. Contact your District Sports and Youth Affairs Officer directly. Since every application is filed through this office and not sent to Panchkula, the district office is the first and most reliable point of contact for a status update, and can tell you whether your file has been forwarded to the Directorate, is under scrutiny there, or has been returned for a missing document.
3. Ask the district office specifically whether your file was forwarded to the Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs. Because applications pass through a district-to-state routing chain, a delay often means the file is still sitting at the district level rather than with the state office, and the district officer is the one who can move it forward.
4. Escalate to the Directorate in Panchkula if the district office cannot resolve the query, using the phone number 0172-2992868 or the email sportshry@gmail.com, quoting your name, sport, tournament, achievement year and the date you submitted your application through the district office.
5. Use the CM Window at cmharyanacell.nic.in for a written complaint if you get no response through the first three channels after a reasonable wait, since this is the formal state-level grievance route for delayed government files in Haryana.

Since awards are processed in batches tied to a notified achievement window rather than continuously, expect the wait between submission and appearance on the awardee list to run into months, and treat silence before the department closes and processes that window as normal rather than a sign of rejection.