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Maharashtra governor takes jibe at MVA govt over job to Kavita Raut
Governor BS Koshyari slams government for not giving Raut a job; state sports minister Sunil Kedar says they had offered a job but she wanter a different one based on her qualifications.
Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has once again slammed the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government for not providing a government job to athlete Kavita Raut, who has represented the country in the Commonwealth Games. State sports minister Sunil Kedar said they had offered her a job but she wanted one based on her qualification, for which the state will have to tweak its rules and regulations. Kedar further said that they have started the process to make the desired changes.
“If the state government and sports minister Sunil Kedar are not able to provide a job to Kavita Raut, then something is wrong. What is Maharashtra government doing if there are no teachers in tribal areas and their vacant posts are not getting filled?” the governor said while inaugurating a newly constructed building of tribal cultural bhavan in Nashik on Wednesday.
Raut had met the governor and informed him that she was not getting a job in Class-1 category despite an assurance from the state government. She had also said that she has been trying to get a job since 2014, but her efforts were in vain.
Following this, Koshyari on November 30 last year wrote a letter to the sports minister saying Raut was eligible for Class-1 category job and that the benefit based on her qualification should be extended. “She has represented the country in the Rio Olympics in 2016 and also brought glory in the Asiad and Commonwealth Games by winning medals. She comes from a scheduled tribe community and enhanced the glory of the country at international level without any support. Considering her track record, she is eligible for a Class-1 job. She is unhappy that sportspersons even less qualified than her were extended similar benefits time and again, but she is yet to get a job despite her efforts since 2014,” states the letter.
Citing that Raut was working with ONGC as a first class officer, the governor added, “Please extend the benefits by appointing her as Class-1 officer.”
Raut is a long distance runner and won the bronze medal in 10,000-metre race at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the first individual track medal by an Indian woman athlete at the Commonwealth Games. She also won the silver medal in the 10,000-metre race at the 2010 Asian Games. In 2012, she was conferred with Arjuna award, one of the most prestigious sports awards in the country.
Raut was not available for a comment.
The sports minister however said, “We offered her a job but she requested for another one based on her qualifications, which is not possible under existing rules and regulations for recruitment. We decided to move her proposal as a special case but was told that the rules should be equal for all the sportspersons, and thus decided to amend the rules. She will get a job of her choice once the process is completed.”
This is the second incident in the past one week when Governor Koshyari chose to take on the MVA government. Last week, he had said that allowing physical classes for schools and not for colleges and universities seemed contradictory.
The governor is yet to clear the 12 names recommended by the state government in November last year for appointing as the member of the legislative council under his quota.
