A day after teenage shooter Manu Bhaker reminded the Haryana State Goverment about a pending cash reward for her Youth Olympic Games gold medal, sports minister Anil Vij on Saturday slammed her for creating a controversy.

Vij’s response also included a confirmation that the Rs 2 crore reward will reach the Commonwealth Games gold winning shooter.

“Manu Bhaker should have first confirmed it from the Sports Department before going to public domain. It is disgusting to denounce a State Govt which is giving highest awards in the country. Bhaker will get Rs 2 crores as tweeted by me and as per notification at that time,” Vij said on Twitter.

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“There should be some sense of discipline in players. Bhaker should feel sorry for creating this controversy. She has a long way to go. She should focus on her game only.”

Bhaker went on a social posting spree where she alleged that someone in the Haryana government had been playing “games” with the money that was to be awarded to the medallists.

As per the state government’s changed policy, which came into effect before the Youth Olympics, Rs 2 crore was marked for the gold medallists, Rs 1.25 crore for silver medallists and Rs 80 lakh for the bronze winners. Before that, the YOG medallists would get Rs 10 lakh, Rs 7.5 lakh and Rs 5 lakh in descending order.

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However, the government again revised its policy last December and brought the amount down to Rs 1 crore for gold, Rs 65 lakh for silver and Rs 40 lakh for the bronze medallists. Bhaker’s father Ram Kishan Bhaker, who is a chief engineer in the Merchant Navy, said moves such as this can break the morale of athletes.

“Far from motivating sportspersons, such moves will break their morale. She is yet to get the promised cash award and now they have revised the policy again. I really hope enough thought is given before they finalise something. Otherwise, it can be detrimental to an athlete’s career,” Ram Kishan had told PTI.

With PTI inputs