Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar (NCP-SP) MLA Jitendra Awhad has alleged that the Maharashtra government has yet to disburse the promised Rs. 11 crore prize money to the cricket players that won the T20 World Cup in June. Awhad made the allegations on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying he had met some of the winning players recently who confirmed that they had not received the promised prize money.
“The Maharashtra government had announced a hefty prize for the Mumbai and Maharashtra-based players of the winning Indian cricket team. However, the players have not received this amount yet. Yesterday, while I was at the hotel for a meeting, I met some players from the winning team. During our conversation, they mentioned that the promised prize money has not yet been given." Awhad wrote in Marathi. “This is disappointing and tarnishes the government's image,” he added.
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The NCP leader criticised the state government, saying, “The government is distributing money here and there. So, at least give the money to those who have been promised. Many players must have told the same thing to others. This is tarnishing the government’s image, and I’m worried about it.”
Earlier, after India won the T20 World Cup, the Maharashtra government had organized a felicitation ceremony for Mumbai-based players Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, and Yashasvi Jaiswal in the state legislature. The Maharashtra government had also announced the Rs. 11 crore prize money for the Indian cricket team after they won the T20 World Cup. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had lauded the team's performance, saying it had made the nation proud.