The craze we Indians have for cricket is evident. Be it the Asia cup or IPL -every match played on the field is crucial for cricket fans. There are many other sports India participates in, but the facilities and benefits cricketers get have no comparison.
You cannot deny both financial and intellectual investments are made in cricket, and other sports are neglected. We compiled a list of incidents that shows how India treats sportspersons that aren’t cricketers differently.
- Sunil Chhetri, the captain of the Indian national football team and Bengaluru FC, scripted history by winning the Durand Cup 2022 trophy at the finals. A post-match video has gone viral where West Bengal Governor La Ganesan, is pushing the player for a picture.
2. In yet another shameful incident, a group of Under-17 kabaddi players was served food kept on the floor of the toilet.
3. Dilraj Kaur – Para Shooter, once bagged India with gold and silver medals. However, due to her poor financial condition, she is now selling chips in Dehradun.
4. Tumda Naresh is the winner of the Blind World Cup and today works as a daily wage worker in Gujarat’s Navsari. He earns ₹250 a day. After multiple requests to the government for a job, he was left with no other option.
5. Lokesh Kumar is a national gold medalist sprinter from Delhi. He revealed how due to poor financial condition at home he has to drink warm water as a substitute for milk.
I have to travel from far and I also need to spend money in order to have proper milk intake so I have to cut my travel budget which I can’t afford to so I cut down on my milk intake and I drink warm water as a substitute.
6. Sita Sahu is a Special Olympics Medallist and won a bronze medal at the Athens Special Olympics for India. She now sells pani puri on the roads today, barely making ends meet.
7. Deepa Malik is the first ever Indian woman to win a medal at the Paralympics. She called out the mistreatment para athletes face in India and said:
We received a warm welcome after coming from the Rio Olympics, but there is a still a disappointment in our hearts that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has not met us so far. Although there was no compulsion that he should have met us, the question is that he felicitated athletes of able body but not paralympics athletes.
Read more: Here’s How Two Miniature Jack Daniels Helped Abhinav Bindra Win A Gold At The Olympics.
