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Regular-article-logo Saturday, 11 May 2024

After groceries, rent haunts athlete

The Rajaks are hoping that the relaxation in the lockdown next week might save the family

Jayesh Thaker Jamshedpur Published 14.05.20, 10:39 PM
Neha Rajak with her parents at Sonari in Jamshedpur

Neha Rajak with her parents at Sonari in Jamshedpur Telegraph picture

Help from different quarters may have kept the family of special powerlifter Neha Rajak afloat during the lockdown but they may soon find themselves on the streets.

The family has not paid the house rent for the last three months and the landlord has asked them to clear the dues or vacate the property.

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The Rajaks are hoping that the relaxation in the lockdown next week might save them.

“We have not paid the house rent for the last three months. The rent is due on May 23 but we don’t have money to pay the landlord. Don’t know what to do,” said Neha’s father Vinod, who works at a laundry in Bistupur.

He said he was hoping the shops would reopen after relaxations in the lockdown next week.

“I would be able to get back to work. I can ask the landlord to wait for another month so that I can get my salary,” Vinod said.

According to him, groceries provided by Samaritans is fast exhausting and the family has been forced to sustain on rice and aloo bhujiya.

“We have found ourselves in a very tricky situation. We are not able to pay house rent because we don’t have money,” Vinod said,.

He said both he and his wife Anju were jobless because of the lockdown.

“The laundry where I work is closed, while my wife is not getting job as a helping hand. The money which we got is not enough to sustain for long. The lockdown has put us into a big trouble,” said Vinod, a resident of Sonari.

After The Telegraph highlighted their plight earlier, the family has received Rs 5,000 from Special Olympics Jharkhand assistant area director Satbir Singh Sahota and Rs 10,000 from UK-based businessman Satpal Singh. Sahota also helped with groceries. The same gesture was shown by the District Legal Services Authority and representatives from the state sports department.

Neha, 19, who claimed four powerlifting bronze medals in the Special Olympics International World Summer Games in Abu Dhabi last year and stands to get Rs 4 lakh for her exploits from the Union sports ministry, is still awaiting the much-needed money.

The state sports department, after going through The Telegraph report, Cash lockdown blow for special champ, published on April 26, has said it will award her Rs 2 lakh from the Sports Welfare Fund Scheme.

Sahota said they were aware about the problems faced by the Rajaks.

“We will do something for the family,” he said on Thursday. “They need money to clear rent dues otherwise the family will face problems.”

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