Though law, rules and custom stand by people, many don’t get the justice they deserve. One of among them is Shakaunthala who was once a State hockey star.
It was post her pension age and when she attained 62 that she received the government order appointing her to a permanent sweeper’s post. It may be as an atonement that she was also given a special permission along with the order to continue in the job till she is 70.

Customarily, this is the time when Shakuthala should have been sitting peacefully at home and receiving monthly pension. Why she has to go for sweeper’s job even at this age is because of the authorities’ failure to reach her with timely help.

It was not one or two years but for three decades that Shakunthala had been frequenting the doorsteps of Sports Council for some job or the other.
She didn’t go with recommendation letter or fake qualification certificates but went with true credentials.

There are many jobs that suit a sports star but even after so much of wandering, the authorities didn’t show any mercy then. No one including Shakunthala knows the reason for it.

Once upon a time, she was one of the famous hockey stars in the State. In 1976, she was a member of Kerala team and she rose to the position of vice-captain. In the same year, she was a member of the team that won National Junior Women’s Championship.

After schooling she joined Pre-Degree but had to give up studies due to poverty. She also stopped playing hockey. After marriage and giving birth to children, fate brought more hardships to her in the form of an accident that left her husband bed-ridden.

To make both ends meet, she tried for some job under sports quota. As she failed in that attempt, she started selling eggs and lemon in Palayam Market.
The government came to know about her plight only when her story was published on Kerala Kaumudi newspaper in 2014.

Finally, seeing the report, the then Sports Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan gave her part-time sweeper’s job in Rajiv Gandhi Sports Medicine Centre. Pinarayi government recently made her job permanent.

It was on Friday morning at 11, Shakunthala reached the minister’s office and received the order. The minister also assured that the government would build a house in the 3.5 cent government land allotted to her.

Shakunthala is not the first lady to have denied justice like this. Such kind of unfair things have been happening indefinitely. This is the kind of embarrassment happening in the life of people those who have nobody to ‘recommend’ or ‘influence’.

If the job application of a national-level player doesn’t reach the place it deserves, it is the Sports Council that is responsible for it.

The Sports Council is an institution that functions at government’s expense for the welfare and progress of sports stars. If they keep sportsperson coming for help wait outside in vain, it shows that the concern of council authorities are something else not the welfare of sportspersons.

The denial of justice the rowing team had to face in Alappuzha is another example. Mostly, it is the children coming from poor living conditions who face severe neglect. The State’s approach to sportspersons is not commendable when compared with other states.

The government come out to hail them only when they ascend the throne of victory. After that, it will completely neglect them when they need its help.
The reason for this bad state is because Sports committees become centres for installing politicians in their administrative posts.

The honour sports stars bring to India by winning national and international competitions is not a mean thing. The keenness the council shows in training sportspersons are not seen when it comes to their welfare matters. Rarely do council arrange smooth travel and accommodation for stars going outside the Kerala for competitions.

They have to often travel for two or three days cramped inside vehicles. Though there have been perpetual complaints on this, no attempts have been to resolve this. And, this shows the authorities’ rock-hard indifference towards sportspersons.

Though Shakunthala’s sweeper job, extended till she reaches 70, can be seen as a good thing, nobody has come forward to explain the unpardonable delay in giving her the job.

If the application of this SSLC qualified woman had been considered in the right time, she would have got a better placement long before. Now there is no point in crying over her fate but authorities should show mercy in order to avoid such ‘tragedies’ in future.

Many may be waiting outside the council office for mercy. Those inside should think about the needy face of those persons, patiently waiting outside.