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Paris Olympic medallist, Swapnil Kusale’s family is seemingly unhappy with the Maharashtra government after they honoured the shooter with a prize sum of INR 2 Crore. Kusale’s father expressed disappointment on this gesture of the government, drawing comparison with the prize money awarded to athletes from Haryana government after medal win at the quadrennial Games in July-August.
Swapnil’s father, Suresh Kusale also put his demand of INR 5 Crore prize money along with a flat in Pune, as per reports quoting PTI. The Indian athlete’s father also added that the shooting range should be named after Swapnil after his medal win at the Olympic Games. “Swapnil should get ₹5 Crore as an award, a flat near Balewadi Sports Stadium so that he could easily commute for practice. Swapnil's name should be given to the 50-meter-three-position rifle shooting arena,” PTI quoted Suresh Kusale as saying.
Why such criteria when only two people from state have won Olympic medal?: Suresh Kushale
Swapnil’s father also questioned Maharashtra government’s policy to reward its athletes, adding that only two won an Olympic medal in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games in July-August. He even drew comparison with the Haryana government, which had most athletes win medals at the Summer Games.
“As per a new policy announced by the Maharashtra government, an Olympic bronze medal winner will get ₹2 Crore. Why does the state form such criteria when Swapnil was only the second individual Olympic medal winner from Maharashtra (after wrestler K D Jadhav in 1952) in 72 years?,” Suresh Kusale asked.
"The Haryana government gives Rs 5 crore to its each (Olympics medal winning) player (Haryana gives Rs 6 crore to a gold medallist, Rs 4 crore to silver medallist, Rs 2.5 crore to bronze winner)," he was quoted as saying by PTI. "Had I known such an outcome, I would have persuaded him to explore a career in some other sports. Is the amount kept low because Swapnil is from a humble background? Would the reward amount have remained the same if he had been the son of an MLA or a minister?" he concluded, expressing his disappointment on the matter.
