Hockey star Vandana Katariya named as ambassador for Uttarakhand’s Women Empowerment

The forward of the Indian women’s national hockey team, Vandana Katariya, has been appointed as an ambassador of the Department for Women’s Empowerment and Child Development of Uttarakhand.

This was announced by the northern state’s newly appointed Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Sunday.

Vandana Katariya was one of the biggest stars of the Indian women hockey team’s fairy tale run at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The 29-year-old also became the first Indian woman to score a hat-trick at the Olympics during their fourth-place finish in Tokyo.

Soon after India’s semifinal loss against Argentina Vandana had found herself in centre of a controversy, with the upper caste men in her village hurling casteist slurs against her family accusing her for the loss. All the accused have now been arrested.

Earlier, the Uttrakhand government had also announced a cash reward of INR. 25 lakh for Vandana Katariya, thanks to her stellar performance in Tokyo.