Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh has raised questions about the disparity in cash rewards offered by state governments to athletes who won the same medal at the recently concluded Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya.
Vijender shared a post on Facebook highlighting the difference between the prize money announced for Kiran Pahal by the Haryana government and that offered to her Indian relay teammate, MR Poovamma, by the Karnataka government after their gold-medal-winning performance at the 2026 . While Paha, Poovamma will only get a cash reward of ₹35 lakh.
“Bhot galat baat hai. There should be a law. Sab khiladiyon ko barabar cash prize milna chahiye (It is very unfair. There should be a law to ensure that all athletes receive equal cash prizes),” Vijender posted on his Facebook page.
Pahal and Poovamma were members of the Indian women’s 4x400m relay quartet that won gold at the in Nagoya. Prachi Choudhary and Vithya Ramraj were the other two members of the team.
India clocked 3:29.69 in the final to finish first. Bahrain took silver in 3:30.21, while China won bronze in 3:31.02. The victory gave India its first Asian Games gold in the women’s 4x400m relay.
Pahal, who ran the opening leg, is from Haryana. Poovamma, who ran the second leg, represents Karnataka and has long been associated with the state’s athletics programme.
The two athletes therefore won the same gold medal as members of the same Indian team, while the financial incentives available to them from their respective state governments differ substantially.
The difference was also highlighted by Poovamma herself after she returned to Karnataka following the Asian Games. Speaking in Mangaluru, the veteran sprinter urged the Karnataka government to increase the cash incentives available to athletes winning medals at major international competitions.
Poovamma said states including Haryana, Punjab and Kerala provide considerably higher rewards for Asian Games gold medallists. She pointed out that Karnataka’s existing incentive for an Asian Games gold medal is ₹35 lakh.
Haryana’s sports reward structure has traditionally offered among the highest incentives in the country. The state’s policy lists ₹3 crore for an Asian Games gold medal, ₹1.5 crore for silver and ₹75 lakh for bronze.
The issue of differing state rewards for sporting achievements is not new. Vijender himself had previously raised a similar question after the 2018 Asian Games, when he pointed out the difference between the ₹3 crore reward announced by Haryana for a gold medallist and the ₹50 lakh offered by Uttar Pradesh to shooter Saurabh Chaudhary.
For Pahal and Poovamma, the disparity is particularly notable because they stood together on the same podium after contributing to the same Indian gold-medal-winning performance in the women’s 4x400m relay at the 2026 Asian Games.
