Visually impaired international cricketer to finally get his dues

Avneet Kaur
Jalandhar, September 17

A day after The Tribune published the report “Govt apathy forced this visually impaired cricketer to quit game” in these columns, the authorities concerned swung into action and paid a visit to Tejinder Pal Singh’s house at Guru Nanak Pura, here on Thursday, to verify his credentials and get an application signed from him.

Reportedly, the Sports Department has decided to release his long pending cash prize as per the Sports Policy 2018, the formalities of which have been initiated.

Tejinder was selected for India’s blind cricket team in 2014 that won the Blind Cricket World Cup in South Africa in 2014 and the England World Cup in 2015, but despite this, his achievements and efforts never got recognised. In conversation with The Tribune on Tuesday, he had informed this correspondent as to how the government apathy made him quit the game and at present he was forced to do a menial job to make both ends meet.

An elated Tejinder on Thursday, however, expressed gratitude towards The Tribune and said the day was nothing less than a miracle for him, as he finally received the call that he was anticipating for years today.

“I can’t express my happiness in words. I made a lot of attempts earlier to awaken the Sports Department from their deep slumber, but to no avail. But today, with the help of The Tribune, I am about to get my long pending dues,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sports Department Director, DPS Kharbanda asked the District Sports Officer (DSO) Gurpreet Singh to visit Tejinder at his residence and fulfil all formalities related to his cash prize. Kharbanda also asked the DSO to ensure that the international blind cricketer receives his due at the earliest and without any inconvenience.

Besides, the Director Sports also said that he had released a notification to all District Sports Officers on Thursday, informing that sportspersons were the pride of the state and they must check and help out all those sportspersons in their respective districts, who had not received their dues so far.

“I have asked the officials concerned to offer grants to players preparing for the upcoming international tournaments. The department has recently got a grant of Rs15 crore, the money is solely meant to uplift players. Therefore, we will ensure all those who deserve government’s help will get it at the earliest,” he said.

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