V Tejaswini Bai, Arjuna awardee kabaddi player from Karnataka who recently battled COVID-19 but lost her husband to the infection, received financial assistance from the Sports Ministry on Friday. The two-time Asian Games gold-medallist kabaddi player has been sanctioned Rs 2 lakh as COVID-19 relief.
Bai and her husband had been diagnosed with COVID-19 on May 1. While she is still recovering at home, her husband Naveen succumbed to the deadly virus on May 11. Her husband was just 30-year-old. "He was panicking a lot after the death of his father. It was the fear and stress that took his life," she said in a statement issued by the Sports Authority of India.
She also added that she was not expecting financial aid but the authorities took very prompt action and she is proud that this is the first time that grief-stricken sportspersons have been given such support. "Many people like us have financial problems and if we get the proper help, it feels good," Bai said.
Bai became captain of the Indian Kabaddi Team in 2010 and won the Arjuna Award in 2011. She had represented India at national level and was a member of the women's kabaddi team that won gold medals at the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games respectively. She now wants to invest the money to safeguard her five-month-old baby's future. "I am the only parent now and will have to do something for my child," she said. The player works as an office superintendent at South Central Railway after retirement.
The relief fund has been approved from the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay National welfare Fund for the Sportspersons, under the ongoing jointly collaborated initiative from the Sports Authority of India, Indian Olympic Association and the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports (MYAS) to support former athletes and coaches during the pandemic.
Feature Image Credit: Outlook India
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