Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Ajay Maken on Thursday announced a financial assistance of Rs. 5 lakh to the indigent former national archer, Nisha Rani Dutta.
The Hindu had reported on Wednesday that she was forced to sell her silver bow and that its readers had reached out to her with financial assistance.
The Minister said he would look deeper into the matter and ask for more details about Ms. Dutta. He said he was moved by her plight after reading about it in these columns. “In fact, there were tweets about the article and I immediately decided that we have to do something to set right the situation.”
Ms. Dutta received a cheque for Rs. 20,000 on Tuesday from The Hindu readers.
Ms. Dutta, 21, has two dependent sisters. Her parents are in their seventies.
She had tried to get a job in several government departments and had even approached Jharkhand's Deputy Chief Minister Sudesh Mehto, who also holds the Sports portfolio.
Born into a farming family of Patamda in Jamshedpur district, Ms. Dutta 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.
She quit archery two years ago owing to poverty.
