Badminton star Sindhu to join Andhra govt as deputy collector
Badminton superstar and silver medallist at the 2016 Rio Olympics, PV Sindhu, will soon join the Andhra Pradesh government as deputy collector.
The announcement was made on Tuesday by chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu in the state assembly, which unanimously passed a bill amending the AP Public Services Act, providing a Group-I officer job to Sindhu. The amendment to the Act was required as this special appointment bypasses the regular recruitment process through the AP Public Service Commission.
Once the Act gets the assent of Governor ESL Narasimhan, Sindhu would get the appointment orders within a couple of weeks.
Introducing the bill in the assembly, Naidu said, “Sindhu has shown extraordinary grit at the Olympics. The state government on its part is trying to honour her in our own way by offering her the deputy collector post. The earlier governments have neglected sports in the state but we will do our best to retain talent.”
Naidu had offered Sindhu a Group-1 rank officer job while felicitating her on her return from the Rio Olympics. Besides the job offer, the government awarded her ₹3 crore as cash prize and a 1,000-square yard residential plot in Amaravati after her silver medal.
Sindhu is currently working as a deputy manager in Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) here. The 22-year-old shuttler lives in Hyderabad and gets training at the Pullela Gopichand Academy.
Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao also made her a similar offer but the player chose Andhra. The Telangana government presented her with a cash reward of ₹5 crore and a 1000-square yard house site in Hyderabad. Rao handed over the site allotment letter to Sindhu two weeks ago.
However, the YSR Congress party legislators deplored the state government for taking time to pass amendment to the Act for Sindhu while denying time for discussing problems faced by farmers in the state. “It is unfortunate that the TDP government, which has time to pass the GST bill and job for sportsperson, has no time for farmers committing suicide in the state,” said YSRC MLA Roja.