Deep Grace Ekka from Odisha received the best defender award while players Rani Rampal and Navneet Kaur received the best performance award. Gurjit Kaur and Vandana Katariya also received awards for most goals at the ceremony and each was presented Rs 5,00,000 cash award by CM.

The CM also announced that Katariya will become the face of the state’s Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign which aims at educating girls.

Indian Women’s Hockey Team Captain on Saturday urges people to rise above casteism as her teammate Vandana Katariya’s family faces alleged casteist abuse.

The chief minister praised Katariya’s stellar performance and said that the whole country is “proud” of Uttarakhand’s daughter.

After India lost to Argentina in the semifinals of the Tokyo Olympics, Katariya’s family alleged on Wednesday that a group of youth in their locality mocked the Indian athlete by bursting crackers, dancing in celebration and abusing them on the basis of caste.

The Indian women’s hockey team returns from Tokyo having changed the course of what it means to be a sportswoman

Caste-driven abuse of hockey player Vandana Katariya’s family following India’s loss at Olympics shows that women’s achievements can never be viewed outside the light of their social status.

According to them, the team had lost because too many Dalit players were a part of the team adding that every sport should refrain from having Dalits as team members.

The Indian team now stands at fourth place in group A league with six points. The team will now face pool B toppers Australia in the quarter-final match on Monday.

Vandana Katariya belongs to a village named Roshanabad of Bahadarabad block. Due to her training schedule for the Olympics, she was able to visit her family after he father passed away recently.