Soundarajan gets sports ministry assistance for NIS course
NEW DELHI: Taking note of the ‘indigent circumstances’ in which former athlete Santhi Soundarajan has been living, the sports ministry Thursday sanctioned an assistance of Rs 60,500 to fund her NIS Diploma Course at the SAI Centre in Bengalore. ‘Minister of state (independent charge) for youth affairs & sports Jitendra Singh has approved financial assistance from National Welfare Fund for sportspersons to Santhi Soundarajan, who had won a silver medal in Asian Games 2006 at Doha. The medal was later withdrawn, as she was not found eligible to compete in women’s category because of female hyperandrogenism,’ the ministry said in a statement.
Soundarajan’s plight came to fore after media reports appeared of her working as a daily wage r at a brick kiln in Tamil Nadu. Soundarajan later applied for a coaching course at the SAI Centre in Bangalore.
“Soundarajan has applied for pursuing a regular National Institute of Sports (NIS) Diploma in coaching at Bengaluru Centre of Sports Authority of India (SAI).
Taking into consideration her financial condition the gover- ment has sanctioned funds to her to meet expenditure towards fee, lodging and boarding, sports kit for undergoing diploma course in Bengaluru,” the ministry stated.
For Soundarajan, it has been a tumultuous journey so far. The middle-distance runner became the cynosure of all eyes when she won a silver medal in the 2006 Doha Asian Games. But a failed gender test a few months later, and the athlete was immediately stripped of her achievement.
Last year, the country woke up to the news of the 26-yearold slogging eight hours under scorching heat to earn a mea- sly sum of Rs 200 per day as a labourer. The Union government took cognisance of the matter and promised Soundarajan a seat at the NIS, Patiala even though she was banned by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).
TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION HER FINANCIAL CONDITION THE GOVERMENT HAS SANCTIONED FUNDS TO HER TO MEET EXPENDITURE TOWARDS FEE