Chandigarh: The BJP government in Haryana has cancelled a felicitation programme for Commonwealth Games medal winners after some of them protested a decision that would have decreased their prize money and threatened to boycott the event scheduled on Thursday.

At the programme in Panchkula, wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who won gold at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games in Australia's Gold Coast, javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who too bagged the gold medal, and bronze-medallist boxer Manoj Kumar were to be felicitated along with 19 other athletes from the state.

According to the new policy, the prize money a Haryana athlete received from the organisation he or she represented at the Games instead of the state was to be deducted from the amount to be given by the government. Earlier, the government did not give any prize money to athletes not representing the state, according to Haryana's sports minister.

The decision triggered a protest from the athletes. Out of the 22 medallists from Haryana at the Commonwealth Games, 13 represent the railways, the services and other organisations at the national level. In all, India came third with 66 medals.

The Haryana government rewards a Commonwealth gold medallist with Rs 1.5 crore, a silver medallist with Rs 75 lakh and a bronze winner with Rs 50 lakh.

The protest by the athletes has forced the Haryana government to rethink its decision.

"We will discuss and frame a new policy soon. Haryana provides the highest award money in sports in the country," said Anil Vij, the Haryana sports minister.

Vinesh, who won gold in women's 50kg freestyle wrestling, has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention. "I request the Prime Minister to intervene in this matter," said Vinesh, a cousin of Babita and Geeta Phogat, medal-winning wrestlers whose life inspired the Aamir Khan-starrer Dangal.

Vij defended the government's decision, saying there was no provision for giving cash rewards to sportspersons representing organisations, and not the state.

"Our government went out of the way to reward all medal winners, whether they represented the state or not," said the minister.

"We had said if they (the players representing organisations) were awarded by their employers, we would deduct that amount from the prize money (given by the government). This was to bring parity among all the players. Otherwise, the players representing the organisations would get more money than those who represent our state," Vij added.