With the sit-in by the wrestlers at Jantar Mantar inching towards the three-week mark, the protestors have now had to resort to crowdfunding to keep their stir going. Earlier this week, a desk came up within the barricaded enclosure to collect the donations. The amount, accepted only in cash, is recorded in a notebook along with the contributor's name and contact details, and the money is kept aside for future use.
So far, wrestlers have accumulated close to ₹6 lakh in four days of crowdfunding. A senior coach has been tasked with handling the finances.
"This is more of a contingency fund. Most of our contributors are former and current wrestlers and coaches. People from various farmer and labour organisations have also donated," one of the protesting wrestlers who didn't wish to be named, said.
"We have been getting an average of ₹1-1.5 lakh per day. We don't have the option of digital payments because we haven't set up a dedicated account for this purpose and we don't want the money to go into an individual's account to risk undue controversy," the wrestler added.
The need to accept donations arose about four days back when the wrestlers realised their cash reserves were depleting. "The protest began with a contribution of ₹3 lakh each from Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, and Vinesh Phogat. A few days later, some coaches and wrestlers contributed an additional ₹15 lakh, taking the amount to ₹24 lakh," the wrestler informed.
In case the protest ends before the money runs out, the wrestlers plan to organise a dangal in Haryana and give away the money in cash prizes.
{{/usCountry}}In case the protest ends before the money runs out, the wrestlers plan to organise a dangal in Haryana and give away the money in cash prizes.
{{/usCountry}}"We decided that since all the money here is for the purpose of sport, we should somehow use it in wrestling. That's when the idea to use the cash in dangal struck."
The average cost to run the protest varies between ₹1-1.5 lakh per day, and with the sit-in having completed 19 days on Thursday, the initial corpus of 24 lakh is close to exhaustion.
"Our biggest expense is drinking water. The tanker placed at the site is free of cost but we have also arranged for bottled water. Each day, we spend close to ₹90,000 on water alone. We also serve lunch to about 800 people every day, which costs around ₹50-55,000," the wrestler said.
On May 7, when khap leaders and farmer groups converged on Jantar Mantar, the food fell short for a crowd of over 1000 and had to be cooked again. The bulk of the cooking is done at a protesting wrestler's house which is not far from the venue.
Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia, Rio Games bronze medallist Sakshi Malik, and two-time Worlds medallist Vinesh Phogat have an alternate arrangement for meals. Their breakfast, lunch, and dinner are cooked in wrestler Somveer Rathi's sister's house, roughly 12 kilometres from the protest site.
"This is a precaution to ensure their food is not spiked and they are not caught in the dope net," the wrestler said. "We know this will be a long haul, so are trying to be as prepared as we can."
The wrestlers' case will come up for hearing in the court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Harjeet Singh Jaspal on Friday. Represented by senior counsel Narendra Hooda, the protestors have petitioned the court for a speedy investigation by Delhi Police and recording of complainants' statements under Section 164 of CrPC. The court will also look at the status report from Delhi Police.