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SAF medal just not good enough
Shrishti Singh won a bronze medal in the 2010 SAF Games in Bangladesh in 57 kg weight category in Taekwondo. But all she has to show for this achievement is a letter of appreciation from the Taekwondo Federation of India and she is still awaiting her official certificate. Sharad Deep reports.
Shrishti Singh won a bronze medal in the 2010 SAF Games in Bangladesh in 57 kg weight category in Taekwondo. But all she has to show for this achievement is a letter of appreciation from the Taekwondo Federation of India and she is still awaiting her official certificate.
Adding insult to her injury, an RTI query revealed that the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had received the certificate from the organizers in the name of an unknown girl Priti Biswas, who was never a part of the four-member women’s team at the Games, and hence the apex governing body never forwarded the certificate to her.
This mess has cost Shrishti a series of job opportunities, besides R 1 lakh cash award from the Uttar Pradesh government under its special scheme for the medal winners at the international events.
Games parental body, the Taekwondo Federation of India though has issued a merit certificate to Shrishti on its letterhead saying that a certificate is must to prove her medal-winning claim.
“For the last 17 months, we are knocking all the doors for the certificate of Shrishti, but nothing has been done in this regard,” her father Dr Jai Singh told HT on Monday.
“We are fed up with the system, and if nothing happens soon, we would be meeting sports minister in New Delhi in this regard,” he said, adding, “Did my daughter make a mistake by winning a medal in Taekwondo contest?
Shrishti was awarded Black Belt in 2002, and UP government’s ‘Rani Laxmi Bai’ sports award in 2010. She took part in the 2007 WTF Asian tournament, which was a qualifying event for the Beijing Olympics.
“It’s a mental harassment of a medal-winner. Now, it’s too much, and I would be moving the court, if nothing is done soon,” said Shrishti.
