Living on false assurances of getting a job, Punjab’s meritorious sportspersons on the roads

Majid Hassan, 33, works as a football player with Punjab government in newly created district Malerkotla. He had left his Sports Authority of India (SAI) job in 2014 with a vision that he will do something for the Punjab youth who were falling in the trap of drugs. He was given a placement as an outsourced coach with just a monthly salary of Rs 15,000. After seven years, instead of getting a raise, he faced a salary cut.

“The proverb that those who will play get spoilt has been proven true by the Punjab government. We have been forced to borrow ration and milk on a monthly basis when not able to pay the monthly ration bill” says Mazid.

Mazid also slammed Punjab Sports Minister, Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, for not keeping his promise.

“We do not know that he (Gurmit Sodhi) is a sports minister. People say that he himself has been a shooter of repute. I don’t think he has been a player at all. He is just sycophant of Captain Amarinder Singh. This sports minister asks us to spend from your pocket and foot the bills which will be reimbursed after one year. They they say that there is a brain drain in Punjab” says Mazid who is the sole breadwinner of a family of four including his wife and three children.

A female boxing coach, Sandeep Kaur (32) from Bhatinda has been waiting for a regular job from last five years .

“Despite being single I find it difficult to make ends meet. Just think about those who have families and are married” says Sandeep Kaur.

“The government is not accepting our demands. We came two-stage a protest and then are asked to go back giving false assurances for providing a job. Nothing has been done from last four years” she adds.

Nitish Thakur, 33, is a swimming coach waiting for a regular job for the last seven years.

“We were promised regular jobs during the elections. We have been visiting the sports minister for the last four years and demanded a regular job but we did not get any response from him,” says Nitish Thakur.

‘They should also take pity on us’

Sports coaches in Punjab are getting less salary as compared to the neighbouring Haryana. While the coaches in Haryana and SAI run institutes get between Rs 35000 to Rs 40000 a month,their counterparts in Punjab just get less than Rs 15000.

“The government provided jobs to the sons of two former MLAs on compassionate grounds. They should also take pity on us,” says Nitish.

Anil Kumar international player from Fazilka, which happens to be the constituency of sports minister Rana Gurmit Sodhi, has also been waiting for a regular job for the last five years.

“I was also offered a job elsewhere, but I refused as I wanted to work in Punjab to improve sports in the state. The situation has become from bad to worse here,” says Anil.

The players and coaches who have been protesting against the state government have demanded creation of 300 posts.

Punjab is among the top five states with the worst unemployment. A 2021 Economic Survey report listed Punjab among top five Indian states with the worst unemployment.

According to the survey report, Punjab has a higher unemployment ratio in the year 2018-19 for 15 years or above age group which is higher than the national average.

Punjab recorded 7.4 percent unemployment rate (urban and rural) while the all India ratio was 5.8 percent for the year 2918-19.

Congress by promising a job to every household in its 2017 poll manifesto has garnered protest from the opposition parties after the state government recently offered jobs to the sons of two former party MLAs.