Chennai: Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa gave away cash awards amounting to Rs 1.20 crore to five sportspersons from Tamil Nadu, including a differently-abled woman who had won honours in international competitions.
She also presented a cheque for Rs 25 lakh to Jenitha Anto of Tiruchy for winning an international chess tournament for the differently abled held in Serbia last month.
Jenitha Anto had won the tournament for the fourth time. Ms Jayalalithaa also gave away cash incentives to four other sportspersons who had won medals in different events at the World School Athletics Championship in Turkey in July.
She gave a cheque for Rs 55 lakh to C. Ajith Kumar for winning three medals in the competition including gold in medley relay, R. Naveen was presented with Rs 25 lakh for winning gold in medley relay while L. Samayasri and S. Priyadarshini were given Rs 20 lakh each for winning silver in Women’s medley relay and Triple Jump, respectively. Ms. Jayalalithaa gave away the cash incentives at the Secretariat here on Friday, according to an official release here.
Naveen and Priyadarshini hail from Chennai while Samayasri is a resident of Coimbatore, the release stated and added that Ms Jayalalithaa had earlier announced rich cash awards to athletes from the state who win international accolades.
