Sakshi Malik is the queen of the moment after winning India’s first medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics, and ending India’s medal drought with her bronze in the women’s wrestling 58 kg category.
And now along with the accolades, awards and cash prizes have begun rolling in. As of now, the Rohtak girl will win a total of about Rs 3 crore as cash prizes.
The Haryana government has promised her Rs 2.5 crore. Had she won a gold, she would have been given Rs 6 crore, while a silver would have fetched her Rs 4 crore. In addition to this, she will also be gifted some land in the state.
The Indian Railways will gift her Rs 60 lakh as it had announced earlier that it would award Rs 50 lakh to a bronze medallist, and Rs 10 lakh for qualifying. The Railways had also announced that a gold medallist would get Rs 1 crore and a silver medallist would be awarded Rs 75 lakh. Malik is employed with the Railways.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) will reward her Rs 20 lakh. The national Olympic body had announced that they would award Rs 50 lakh for a gold medal and Rs 30 lakh for a silver one.
Actor and Olympic ambassador Salman Khan has also promised a cheque of Rs 1,01,000 for each athlete.
JSW, who has sponsored the bronze medallist, will gift her Rs 15 lakh.
The Uttar Pradesh government will honour Malik with the Rani Laxmi Bai award, which carries a cash prize of Rs 3.11 lakh, a citation and a statue of the brave Rani of Jhansi.
(Feature image source: AFP)