Reacting to a report in the Wednesday edition of The Hindu about former national archer, Nisha Rani Dutta, having forced to sell her silver bow, and how the readers of The Hindu had reached out to her with financial assistance, the Sports and Youth Affairs Minister, Ajay Maken on Thursday announced a financial assistance of Rs. 5 lakh to her.
Asserting that he would further look into the matter and seek the entire details about Ms. Dutta, Mr. Maken said he was moved by the plight of the former national archer after having read the same in The Hindu . “In fact, there were tweets about the article in The Hindu and immediately I decided that we have to do something to set right the situation,’’ he remarked.
Mr. Maken appreciated the efforts of the newspaper at having brought out the plight of the player, and said he was moved by the financial assistance offered by the readers of the newspaper.
Ms. Dutta had received on Tuesday a cheque for Rs.20,000 from The Hindu readers, who were moved by her plight after her story hit the headlines recently.
Ms. Dutta, 21, has two sisters dependant on her. Her mother and father are in their seventies. She had tried to get employment in various government departments, and had even approach the Jharkhand Deputy Chief Minister Sudesh Mehto, who also holds the Sports portfolio, but could not get any help.
Born in a farming family of Patamda in Jamshedpur district, Ms. Dutta quit archery two years ago owing to poverty. She won a silver medal at the 2008 South Asian Federation Championship in Jharkhand, a bronze medal at the 2006 Bangkok Grand Prix, and the Best Player Award in the 2007 Asian Grand Prix in Taiwan.
