NEW DELHI: Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal announced on Thursday that sportspersons in the country who are employed with the Indian Railways stand a better chance now to be promoted to the rank of officer even if they are not Olympic medal winners courtesy the government’s revised policy, Press Trust of India reports.
According to the policy, an athlete qualifies to be an officer if they have participated in two or more Olympic events and have won medals at other events such as Asian Games, Commonwealth Games or World Cups. Winners of top national sports awards such as Padma Shri will also be considered for the same promotion.
The reasons behind the move are to not only incentivise sportspersons in bringing laurels to the country and recognizing their achievements but also to have a simplified policy on the issue which was earlier dealt with on a case-to-case basis, sometimes causing confusion or resentment amongst some sportspersons such as Vijender Singh, Akhil Kumar and Manoj Kumar.
After the 2016 Olympic Games, the Railways had decided to award only medal winners and fourth place finishers at the Olympics, which still didn’t make the policy agreeable and clear.
“In order to give due recognition to the effort put in by the sportspersons, who have made two appearances in Olympics, won a medal in Asian Games/Commonwealth Games, it has now been decided to award them with a promotion to the officer rank,” a ministry release stated.
“Further Railway sportsperson who are winners of any of the awards like Arjuna/Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award would also be entitled to the said promotion,” it added.
The Railways, which has around 3,000 active athletes on its payrolls, has now also decided to consider promotion of the coaches employed with it if their wards deliver at least three medals at the Olympic Games/World Cup/World Championship/Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games. Of the three, at least one medal should be in an Olympics.
“This liberalised promotion policy will act as an incentive to the country’s elite sportspersons/coaches and reaffirms Railways commitment to the promotion of sports in the country,” the statement from the Ministry read.
“There was no specific provision, everything was being dealt on a case to case basis till now. So somebody like Mithali Raj, who is a Padma Shri, had to wait till India finished World Cup runners-up last year for a promotion. With this policy, things will be streamlined,” Railways Sports Promotion Board secretary Rekha Yadav told PTI.
