MADURAI
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday felt disheartened that a differently abled athlete and a multiple medal winner was terminated as day watchman on certain allegations. It put forth a set of questions for the Centre and State to respond on the plight of sportspersons.
A Division Bench of Justices N. Kirubakaran and S. Ramathilagam suo motu impleaded the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu in the case. The court asked if all sportspersons were treated equally and uniformly recognised and sought details of allotment of funds for the past 10 years for development of sports in the country.
The court also asked the Centre and State to respond if the benefits given to cricketers were extended to other sportspersons too. It sought a report by March 21 and adjourned the case for further hearing.
The court observed that cricketers alone were given star status, while other sportspersons were being ignored by the Centre and the State. It was unfortunate that sportspersons, other than cricketers, were not even given the reception they deserved on their return to homeland, the court said.
This kind of stepmotherly treatment had to be stopped and the practice deprecated. All sportspersons should be encouraged uniformly. A uniform policy had to be adopted so that children would show interest in all games. Recognising cricket alone would present a wrong picture to children and force them to take up cricket alone, the court observed.
The court was hearing a petition filed by A. Gopikannan of Madurai, a differently abled athlete who has won over 70 medals in international competitions. He was terminated from the post of day watchman in 2014 on the allegation that he had failed to close the shutter of Madurai District Commercial Complex, where he was engaged. The court also sought a response on the plight of the petitioner.