Guwahati, May 15: A government grant of Rs 10 lakh, a job in one of the leading corporate houses of the Northeast and an opportunity to pursue her studies are more than what 12th South Asian Games gold medallist kho-kho player Supriya Gogoi could have expected from a career in kho-kho.
There was a time when Supriya was almost on the verge of giving up studies because of a financial crisis till a report in The Telegraph helped her get an aid of Rs 1 lakh in two instalments from Guwahati-based Sai Vikash Junior College to assist her complete her bachelor's degree. She is now a fourth-semester student of a three-year degree course at Tengakhat College, under Dibrugarh University in the district.
A week after joining the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd as a Grade III employee at Bhadoi Paanchali in Duliajan, Supriya yesterday became the first among five Assam gold medallists in the Games held here last year, to receive a sanction letter of Rs 10 lakh as incentive from chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal at a function in Dibrugarh. She was a part of the champion Indian team.
"The job and the incentive have come as a big relief. Now I can complete my studies and help my two sisters and a brother pursue their studies. I can also pursue with my game with more dedication without having to worry about two meals a day for our family of six. I am thankful to the government and the Neepco authorities for recognising my achievement. These gestures will go a long way in motivating many sportspersons from Assam to take up sports professionally," Supriya told The Telegraph over phone from Duliajan.
It took 10 years since she started playing kho-kho as a pastime in her childhood to achieve the heights of an international gold medallist.
Supriya has become an inspiration for many upcoming athletes in the Dibrugarh. The current state women's squad for the senior nationals kho-kho in Sikkim, which Supriya had to skip to join a new job, comprises six players from her district.
"Sportspersons from Dibrugarh district have always been talented and gifted. But we always missed the motivation and exposure apart from necessary facilities to excel. I hope the new initiatives of the government will help development of sports in the district," Supriya said.
The issue of the sanction letter to only one of the gold medallists has, however, not gone down well with organisers of the other disciplines in which gold medals were bagged by Assam athletes.
"Why is only one player being given the incentive where there are four others, including ace archer Jayanta Talukdar, who also won a gold for India in the same Games? Let's hope the government will act little more sensibly by looking after all alike," one of the organisers said.
Sonowal's predecessor Tarun Gogoi had announced cash rewards of Rs 10 lakh each to whoever wins a gold before the Games kicked off in February last year.
