Edu Dept ‘humiliates’ young sportspersons

Deepankar Sharda 

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 25

The UT Education Department on Friday made meritorious sportspersons of the city wait for nearly four hours just to get their photographs clicked with the new adviser, Manoj Kumar Parida.

Interestingly, the athletes were also told to submit their medals and trophies which they had won in different national championships, so that the adviser could later award the same to the players. The function was held at the Tagore Theatre.  

“It’s really humiliating. There is no exact reason why the players were called here. The trophies which the team had won in various school national championships were re-awarded to the players. There was no announcement or extra award for us,” said a coach, who attended the function.

“This was more of a cultural function. I don’t know for what reason the sportspersons were called. But after reaching the venue it was evident that the function was held just to showcase the students’ strength to the new adviser. There were no incentives for the players,” said another coach. 

According to sources, this was for the first time that players were called for such a function. They claimed that children of a few officials had won medals in one of the national championships held in the city and the event was just aimed at presenting a good picture of the players before the top officials. 

It’s really humiliating. There is no exact reason why the players were called here (for the function). — A coach