Minister for Sports and Youth Welfare Dilip Jadhav has announced a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh to Krishna Patil, who became the first woman from Maharashtra to scale Mount Everest. Krishna also met Sena Supremo Bal Thackeray earlier this week.

Patil (19) has become only the second Maharashtrian to conquer the 8,848-metre high peak. Surendra Chavan was the first from the state to achieve the feat, in 1998, as part of the Yadav-led expedition.