Widow of Arjuna Awardee Makkhan Singh gets Rs 3 lakh

Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports M.S. Gill presenting a cheque for Rs. 3 lakhs to Sulinder Kaur widow of late Makkhan Singh, who won gold medal in 4 x 400 relay race in 1962 Asian Games and participated in Tokyo Olympics 1964, in New Delhi on September 16, 2009.

Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports M S Gill presented a demand draft of Rs 3 lakh to Mrs Sulinder Kaur, widow of the late athlete and Arjuna Awardee Makkhan Singh here today.

The amount was approved by the Sports Minister as a lump sum assistance from the National Welfare Fund for Sportspersons after he came to know that the family of the late athlete was living in miserable conditions.

Makkhan Singh was a gold medalist in the 4X400 metres relay race and the silver medalist in 400 metres in the 1962 Jakarta Asian Games. He had also participated in the 1964 Olympic Games.

In the 1964 National Games, he won the first position in 400 metres, pushing the legendary Milkha Singh to the second position. The Government had decorated him with the Arjuna Award in 1964 for his brilliant performances.

The National Welfare Fund for Sportspersons provides assistance to sportspersons of yesteryears and their families, who brought glory for the country but are now living in indigent circumstances. The Ministry considers such cases for financial assistance based on media reports or personal representation given by sportspersons themselves or by their family members.

It may be recalled that the Sports Ministry had approved financial assistance of Rs. 1.5 lakh each earlier this month to widows of four members of the Indian football team that had reached the semi-finals in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.

In February, this year, nine surviving members of that team---Samar Banerjee, S.S. Narayan, A.S. Salam, A. Hussain, N.K. Nandi, P.K. Banerjee, M.Z. Zulfikar, Tulsidas Balaram and Keshto Pal---were also given financial assistance of Rs. 1.5 lakh each.

NNN