Efforts should be made to help the administrators of Volga Archery Academy (VAA) to realise their dream of winning an Olympic medal, according to Member of Parliament Lagadapati Rajagopal here on Monday.
Speaking at the inaugural function of late Indian coach Cherukuri Lenin's bronze statue at Mahanadu Road, Mr. Rajagopal said that it would be a fitting tribute to the late archer from Vijayawada if the entire civil society was behind the academy in its growth. “Lenin was just 24-years-old when he left us but he has successfully put Vijayawada in the world map of archery by his contribution both as an archer and coach. It is our duty to enhance the reputation of our city by helping archery,” he said.
Mr. Rajagopal said that Lenin‘s wife Kranthi will be given a railway job of a pharmacist soon. “The papers are with the General Manager of the South Central Railway and the order will be issued soon,” he assured.
Vijayawada East MLA Yelamanchalli Ravi said it was unfortunate that Lenin passed away in a tragic accident as he had bright future ahead of him as a national coach. Former minister Devineni Rajasekhar (Nehru) and MLA Malladi Vishnu assured all support for the smooth functioning of the academy. Income Tax commissioner K. Ajay Kumar said that the department had given Section 80G provision of the IT Act to the academy by which contributions to the academy would get 50 per cent exception.
Olympian archer Mangal Singh Champia, who came from Kolkata for this function, hailed Lenin as one of the best coaches who had the knack of identifying champion material. Volga Archery Academy chairman and Lenin's father Ch. Satyanarayana said Lenin kept his promise of winning a medal in Commonwealth Games and had prepared a road map for a medal in Olympics when the tragedy took him away. Krishna District Archery Association president Velagapudi Ramakrishna asked Mr. Rajagopal to use his good offices to install a statue of Lenin at IGMC stadium.
