Vandana Kataria is the new face of Uttarakhand’s Department of Women Empowerment and Child Development

On Sunday, India’s hockey star Vandana Katariya was appointed the brand ambassador of Uttarakhand’s women and child development department. Vandana will also serve as the brand ambassador of the Centre’s ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ initiative for the Haridwar district.

Uttarakhand’s Chief Minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami, made the announcements on the same day Vandana received the Tilu Rauteli award, the state’s highest honor for women. A day after the state government announced a Rs 25 lakh cash reward for her Olympic feat – Vandana is India’s first woman to score an Olympic hat-trick. State sports and education minister Arvind Pandey personally delivered the certificates to Katariya’s mother at Pandey’s house in Haridwar’s Roshnabad village.

“Uttarakhand’s daughter Vandana Kataria played tremendously in a hockey match at the Tokyo Olympics. I am glad to announce her as the brand ambassador of the women and child development department,” said Chief Minister Dhami.

As per the official statement, the Chief Minister also said that “soon a new and attractive sports policy would be implemented in the state. The new policy would make a provision of proper financial incentives especially for developing international level talent among our youth.”