Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has announced a cash prize of Rs 6 crore for sportspersons who win gold in the Olympics, and expressed confidence that sportspersons from Karnataka would reach the top in their respective games.
The CM, speaking during the ‘Karnataka Olympics 2025’ awards ceremony organized by the Karnataka Olympics Association, Bengaluru, on Sunday, congratulated the winners.
Assuring that the state government was supportive of sports, he said that, sportspersons who win silver would be given Rs 4 crore and bronze-winners would get Rs 3 crore as cash prize.
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Siddaramaiah added that reservation for sportspersons in appointment to government jobs is being implemented starting January 2026. “Up to 3 per cent jobs in the Police and Forest Departments and 2 per cent in the other government departments are being reserved for sportspersons. An official order will be passed in this regard in January 2026,” he said and called upon youngsters to enter the sports field in larger numbers.
The CM also lauded the contributions of the Karnataka Olympics Association in the field of sports, since 1958, when it was founded. “The Association has been even more active since MLC Govindaraj took charge as Chairperson. It is a matter of pride that just like in Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, the Olympics Association in our state too functions from its own building,” he added.
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Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
