Dutee’s parents still happy with weaving

The nondescript village Gopalapur  in Jajpur district has been in the news ever since the village girl sprinter Dutee Chand won two silver medals in 100 and 200 meter race in the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta recently.

The State Government has announced to give Dutee Rs 3 crore for her winning the two medals.  But the parents of Dutee are not in a mood to leave their traditional weaving work despite raining of money on their daughter.

“Despite the success of our daughter, we will not leave our traditional weaving work. We have been weaving silk saris and towels since long.

Weaving is our profession. Each day we weave around three to four hours. We get pleasure by weaving,” said Charkdhar (65), the father of Dutee.

“We provided food, clothes and education to all our five daughters and a son by earning money as weavers. 

We faced many hard times in the past. Now our financial condition is good. We are extremely happy after knowing that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik granted Rs 3 crore to Dutee for her achievement . It is a huge amount for us,” said Aakhuji (57), the mother of Dutee, while weaving a saree in her house.

Former Minister Prafulla Chandra Ghadai recalled Dutee’s hard work and said she rose to her present position by strong determination and conviction.

“Dutee is a self-made girl. She rose to her present position because of her hard work. I thank Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for sanctioning Rs 3 crore to Dutee for her accomplishment,” opined Ghadai.