Jharkhand sportspersons plan to surrender medals on Independence Day

Medal winners in national and international events were assured two years ago of jobs in the state government by the then chief minister Raghubar Das. But though the sportspersons applied, appeared at tests, went through rigorous physical tests as well, the jobs have remained elusive.

Olympians like Michael Kindo, Ajit Lakra and Nikki Pradhan, who were employed by different agencies, have been luckier than the 33 medal winners in the state who have been left in the lurch. While it was informally communicated to some of them that they were selected, they never received any appointment letter nor were they told when and where they were being posted.

During the lockdown some of them have been forced to become vegetable vendors, work as domestic help and turn to pedalling rickshaws for livelihood. Moved by the plight of some of them, the present Jharkhand CM has helped a few of them but clearly a lot more remains to be done.

Jharkhand has been a natural nursery of hockey, football, athletics and archery. Founder of the Jharkhand Party Jaipal Singh was the captain of the Indian hockey team in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympic Games. Since then several sportspersons have brought laurels to the state.

Sylvanus Dungdung and Manohar Topno played hockey in the summer Olympic games. Deepika Kumari represented India in archery. Sylvanus lives as an unsung hero while Manohar Topno eked out a living till the other day as a referee in local hockey tournaments in the State.

BJP and its allies have ruled the state for 17 of the 20 years Jharkhand has been in existence. The BJP Government did establish a Jharkhand Sports Promotion Council and came up with a Sports Policy. But the failure of the policy is evident in media reports on sportspersons selling vegetables or working as daily wage labourers at construction sites and serve as domestic helps.

Veteran hockey Olympian Gopal Bhengra was bailed out by former cricketer-turned commentator Sunil Gavaskar but most sportspersons are reeling in poverty.

Archer Soni Khatoon (18) was forced to sell vegetables on the streets of Dhanbad. A medal winner in the 2011 National Schools Games and in the National Archery Competition, had to skip her studies due to financial crisis at home. She ran out of resources to replace her broken bow when the present Chief Minister Hemant Soren bailed her out.

Geeta Kumari, who has won eight Gold medals in ‘walking competitions’ in the state and a silver and a bronze medal at Kolkata , continues to be a vegetable vendor on the streets of Ramgarh, an hour’s drive from Ranchi. She too has now been provided a monthly stipend.

Hemant Soren reviewed a new sports policy draft with officials on July 17 to promote a ‘Healthy Jharkhand, Happy Jharkhand’. The chief minister said the State government planned to launch a portal first where sportspersons could upload details to help create a database.