Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur)

Sudha chasing UP job for the last three years

- Sharad Deep sharad.deep@htlive.com

On Friday, India’s ace athlete Sudha Singh won the women’s 3000m steeplecha­se gold at the Asian Athletics Championsh­ip in Bhubaneswa­r, but her search for a job in her home state Uttar Pradesh continues.

Sudha, who also had a silver medal each at the

2009, 2011 and 2013 editions of the Asian Championsh­ips, is desperate for a job in the state, but it seems no one in the Uttar Pradesh Sports Directorat­e is interested in helping her out.

“The government order to give Class 1 jobs to medal winners like me was issued in 2014 and since January 2015, I am running from pillar to post for a job here. But every time the people concerned say that the process is on,” Sudha told HT on Monday.

The 31-year-old Sudha, who hails from Rae Bareli, clocked 9:59.47 seconds at the Asian Championsh­ips last week, and booked a place in the next month’s World Championsh­ips in London.

“I will apprise chief minister Yogi Adityanath on how reluctant people are in his government in giving me a job. I will also let Prime Minister Narendra Modi know about my plea for a job after coming back from the World Championsh­ips,” said Sudha, who has applied for the post of a regional sports officer in UP.

“World Championsh­ips is a big challenge for me. I want to do well there and I want to break the national record,” said Sudha, who has been serving the Central Railways at Mumbai as chief ticket inspector. “Everybody is aware of my achievemen­ts, and if anyone has doubts, he can compare my achievemen­ts with others. They should reject my claim, if I am inferior to others,” said Sudha, who had won the Asian Games gold in 2014 at Guangzhou.

“I am holding the national record for the last seven years, and why shouldn’t I think for a job in my own state. I had offers in SAI and other places too, but I always wanted to work for my own state,” said Sudha, who has also recently let sports minister Chetan Chauhan know about her problem. “Since December I am at the national camp and I have not visited my ailing aunt and grandmothe­r at home. If I had a job in the state, I could have been with my family,” she said. FC Pune City have made their first foreign signing with

 ?? PTI ?? Sudha Singh
PTI Sudha Singh

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