By IANS,
Mumbai: Barely a fortnight after the sorry economic plight of ace hockey player Yuvraj Walmiki came to light, the Maharashtra government Tuesday decided on a special five percent quota in government jobs for sportspersons who bring glory to the state, an official said.
“Five percent of all government jobs shall be reserved for sports persons in the state across various grades and categories,” the official told IANS, adding that the decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Home Minister R.R. Patil, Sports Minister Padmakar Walvi and other top officials here.
“They would be entitled to all government benefits, promotions, etc. It is part of the policy to encourage sports by the state government,” the official added.
Sportspersons who bring glory to the state by their achievements or honours in Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games shall be recruited direct to grade one jobs.
Similarly those who excel in Asian championships, junior world championships and youth Olympics shall be given direct appointment to grade two jobs.
All other players who make a mark in different games or championships shall be given jobs under the five percent sports quota.
Kicking off the policy, the government offered grade one jobs to eight top sportspersons: Mumbai’s Snehal Salunkhe (women’s kabaddi) and Narsing Yadav (wrestling), Ahmednagar’s Pankaj Shirsat (kabaddi), Thane’s Dhananjay Mahadik (hockey), Pune’s Navnath Fartade (shooting), Dipika Joseph (women’s kabaddi) and Nitin Ghule (Kabaddi), and Kolhapur’s Veerdhaval Khade (swimming).
Similarly, grade two jobs have been offered to Mumbai’s Satish Patade (power lifting), Thane’s Dipali Kulkarni and Sandeep Awari (both power lifting), and Kolhapur’s Suhas Khamkar (body building).
Presently, the Indian Railways, Air India, a few banks and some corporates like Tata Group and Mahindra & Mahindra offer special employment opportunities to sports persons who excel in different games in India or abroad.