Reports : Karnataka government likely to announce prize money for three Grandmasters
According to reports, growing concerns amidst the chess fraternity could see the state government honour its three Grandmasters with a prize money of Rs 10 lakh or more. The Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports (DYES) has also invited applications for Ekalavya and Kreeda Ratna awards.
In welcome news for chess players in Karnataka, the state government has been reportedly coming up with new guidelines to honour achievements in the sport that include earning Grandmaster titles. The unrest came after the government delayed in honouring its three GMs -MS Thej Kumar, Stany GA and the most recent, Girish A. Koushik.
"The final call will be taken by the government shortly but the suggestion is to constitute a cash award of Rs 10 lakh or more," said sources, reported TOI.
"Till now there were no guidelines to announce cash awards for winning the Grandmaster title. Now that three state players have achieved the prestigious title, a proposal has been sent to the government to announce cash awards for winning the GM title.
"There is a possibility that the Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports (DYES) may arrange a special function to honour the three chess players. If the proposal gets delayed then the state's GMs could be honoured together with the Ekalavya and other sports award winners," the sources further added.
It has also been reported by the sources in the ministry that the prize money of the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games has been cleared.
"The money will be directly transferred to their bank accounts. It would take 7-14 days. What is pending is the cash awards for winning at national and international meets in 2016-17. These too will be given away soon," sources said.
The DYES has already invited applications for this year's Ekalavya and Kreeda Ratna awards and with last year’s awards for the same still pending, everything will be cleared this time. "The plan now is to give away last year's awards too at this year's function."