Kottayam: O P Jaisha's name is synonymous with Indian athletics. The Kerala athlete battled extreme poverty to become the country's most acclaimed female middle- and long-distance runner. However, it seems the Kerala government is in no hurry to utilise her expertise in the field as she is still awaiting her promised appointment as an athletics coach to train budding talents.
In April 2017, the Kerala State Sports Council (KSSC) had decided to appoint Olympians P Anil Kumar, Jaisha, and P T Paulose as coaches from June. But the promise has not been kept even after one year.
Jaisha, who works as a Railway employee in Kolkata, took long leave and came back to Wayanad to clear all the official formalities in Kerala. But all her plans went awry as she failed to receive an official confirmation regarding her appointment from the authorities. She says it was her husband, Gurmeet Singh, a former sprinter and coach from Ludhiana, who supported her throughout the ordeal.
Jaisha's effort to get a job as an athletics coach in Kerala started way back in 2016 right after the Rio Olympics. She had requested the then sports minister E P Jayarajan to consider her application and her file was handed over to the sports secretary. But Jayarajan had to quit as minister soon following charges of nepotism.
When Kerala celebrated the 60th anniversary of its first government early last year, Jaisha too was invited among the 60 prominent people in Kerala. During the function, she handed over an application (see picture) to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan requesting for a job with the KSSC. “I gave the letter to the CM's personal secretary and got an intimation letter back (see picture) stating that the issue has been raised and the letter was handed over to the sports council,” said Jaisha.
After a few days, in April 2017, Jaisha was informed that the KSSC has given the nod to appoint her as coach from June. “I was happy to hear the news and rushed to Wayanad from Kolkata taking a long leave. Though I am happy with the central government job, I always wanted to continue my athletic career and train the younger generation, especially from backward areas like Idukki and Wayanad. But things didn't go well back here. I went back to Kolkata,” said Jaisha.
Though the athlete approached the authorities to follow up regarding her appointment, Sports Council informed her that she and the other two coaches will have to work on a contract basis. “With people like PT Paulose who has 20 years of work experience and me with 13 years' experience in the central government, why should we work on contract basis? What is stopping them from taking us as permanent coaches as we have brought laurels to the country,” asked Jaisha.
When Onmanorama contacted the Sports Council, an official, who didn't want his name to appear in the media, said, “Since Jaisha has a central government job with a salary higher than that of an athletics coach, we need to protect her salary. We have discussed this with our financial team and are waiting for an approval from their side.”
However, Jaisha revealed salary was not the issue. "I haven’t asked them the details of my salary, but there was a promise to appoint me as an athletics coach. There are a lot of budding talents in backward areas like Idukki and Wayanad. All they need is training and encouragement which I can give. With no help from the government, I trained two of my students and took them to state-level athletics. There would be many more Jaishas in future and I feel that government should support them to make Kerala proud," said Jaisha.
Jaisha has twice won the Asian Games bronze medal in 3000m and 5000m race and twice the Asian Indoor Games gold medal in 1500m and 3000m. She set a national record in marathon by clocking 2:34:43 in 2015. She is also a former national record holder in the 3,000m steeplechase. She has been part of the most challenging track events, 5000m, 3000m and 1,500m.
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