Athlete Sudha Singh chasing UP job for last three years - Hindustan Times
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Athlete Sudha Singh chasing UP job for last three years

Hindustan Times, Lucknow | By
Jul 10, 2017 04:51 PM IST

Sudha Singh, who has won many medals for India in the Asian Athletics Championships over the years, is still awaiting a job in her home state in Uttar Pradesh.

On Friday, India’s ace athlete Sudha Singh won the women’s 3000m steeplechase gold at the Asian Athletics Championship in Bhubaneswar, but her search for a job in her home state Uttar Pradesh continues.

Sudha Singh won the 3000m steeplechase during the 22nd Asian Athletic Championships.(PTI)
Sudha Singh won the 3000m steeplechase during the 22nd Asian Athletic Championships.(PTI)

Sudha, who also had a silver medal each at the 2009, 2011 and 2013 editions of the Asian Championships, is desperate for a job in the state, but it seems no one in the Uttar Pradesh Sports Directorate is interested in helping her out.

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Besides Sudha, four others, including 2014 Incheon Asian Games gold medal winning discus thrower Seema Punia, bronze medallist shooter at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow Mohd Asab, bronze medallist weightlifter also at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Swati Singh and gold medallist at the women’s 4x400m relay at the 2014 Asian Games, Priyanka Pawar are waiting for job opportunities in Uttar Pradesh.

READ | Sudha Singh wins gold in in Asian Athletics Championships steeplechase

“The government order to give Class 1 jobs to medal winners like me was issued in 2014 and since January 2015, I am running from pillar to post for a job here. But every time the people concerned say that the process is on,” Sudha told HT on Monday.

The 31-year-old Sudha, who hails from Rae Bareli, clocked 9:59.47 seconds at the Asian Championship last week, and booked a place in the next month’s World Championships in London.

“I will apprise chief minister Yogi Adityanath on how reluctant people are in his government in giving me a job. I will also let Prime Minister Narendra Modi know about my plea for a job after coming back from the World Championships,” said Sudha, who has applied for the post of a regional sports officer in UP.

“World Championships is a big challenge for me. I want to do well there and I want to break the national record,” said Sudha, who has been serving the Central Railways at Mumbai as chief ticket inspector.

READ | G Lakshmanan wins distance double, India get 12 gold at Asian Athletics Meet

“Everybody is aware of my achievements, and if anyone has doubts, he can compare my achievements with others. They should reject my claim, if I am inferior to others,” said Sudha, who had won the Asian Games gold in 2014 at Guangzhou.

At the 2012 London Olympics, Sudha had finished 21st, before finishing 30th at the Rio Olympics last year.

“I am holding the national record for the last seven years, and why shouldn’t I think for a job in my own state. I had offers in SAI and other places too, but I always wanted to work for my own state,” said Sudha, who recently let the sports minister Chetan Chauhan know about her job’s problem.

“Since December I am at the national camp and I have not visited my ailing aunt and grandmother at home. If I had a job in the state, I could have been with my family.”

READ | India favourite to win 4x400m relay at Asian Athletics Championships

“Since my athletics hostel days in 2003, I am winning medals for the state at national and international levels, and it was the responsibility of the state to support sportspersons like me. I am not the last one who will win a medal for UP. There would be many more Sudha Singhs in future, and I feel that government should support them to make Uttar Pradesh proud,” she added.

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