Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday said that the Ministry will continue to offer financial help to former sportspersons. He stated that they are deserving of respect and dignity for the dedication with which they served the country. The Sports Ministry has been providing financial assistance to former athletes in their times of crisis.
He expressed his sadness over the fact that former athletes sometimes don’t even have money for their medical treatments. While addressing the virtual farewell of former athletics chief coach Bahadur Singh, Mr. Rijiju said that the Ministry tried to provide as much financial help to sportspersons as possible.
“We will continue to provide financial assistance to all those sports persons who have represented the country in international events but currently facing financial problems in life,” he said.
“The athletes should be given respect and dignity at every level of the society. If we are not doing that, we are giving a wrong message. I feel very sad when athletes are not given respect and dignity,” Mr. Rijiju stated, making a point that the sportsmen are of utmost importance to the Ministry.
Mr. Rijiju described Bahadur Singh, who resigned as athletics chief coach after 25 years of service, as an iconic figure in Indian sports. He also said that this retirement marks the end of an era.
“Two decades as a top athlete, winning gold medals in the Asians Games and other international events (in shot put), and then nearly three decades as a coach is something difficult to match. You will continue to inspire the Indian sporting fraternity in future also. The athletes will try to emulate you and we need to find many more Bahadur Singhs in the years to come,” said Mr. Rijiju.