Stomach does not fill with talk, players need jobs: Anandeshwar Pandey

Anandeshwar Pandey, treasurer of the Indian Olympic Association and general secretary of the UP Olympic Association, said on the encouragement of the players from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath that the players will not be fed by the talk, they need a job first of all.

Dr Pandey said that the reserved posts of thousands of players are lying vacant for the last five years in the state. In Uttar Pradesh Civil Police, 186 posts of sub-inspector and 1120 of constable are vacant. A meeting has been held on this subject a year ago with the Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary Home, Chairman of Uttar Pradesh Police Recruitment Board and other officers along with Director Sports and Chief Secretary with UP Olympic Association, but nothing has happened so far and gazetted posts. The number is also in the dozens.

Apart from this, the posts of Regional Sports Officer and Deputy Sports Officer and Coaches are lying vacant in the Sports Department. Posts are also vacant in other departments including transport, while according to the government’s GO, two percent posts are reserved for national and international players.

He said that the players of Uttar Pradesh are migrating to other states due to lack of jobs. Today the situation is that Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of sportspersons in the hostels of Sports Authority of India spread across the country. Today there is a need to make a sports policy in the state so that maximum welfare of the players can be done.

Dr Pandey expressed apprehension that it should not happen that after the Olympics, the government should stop thinking about the sportspersons as it is happening every time. Today players need maximum jobs so that they can feed themselves and their families. The exercise of making sports policy in Uttar Pradesh is going on since 2000, which has not been completed yet. Now we have to get down to reality, not just talk.