Champion swimmer Sajan languishes in poverty, thanks to official apathy

Malappuram: His incredible exploits in the pool have neither given due recognition nor changed his life for the better as Sajan Prakash, who became the first Indian swimmer in 32 years to qualify for the 200m butterfly final of the Asian Games recently, is forced to return the medals and trophies he won over the years for want of space to keep them.

The individual champion’s trophy and the five gold medals won by Sajan at the 72nd National senior swimming championship in Thiruvananthapuram a few weeks ago are now gathering dust in a cupboard at the State Sports Council office.

Though there were announcements of cash prizes from the authorities for the 25-year-old Olympian, who emerged individual champion at South Asian Games and National Games, nothing came his way despite repeated requests and reminders.

Sajan and his mother Shantymol, a former international athlete herself who is employed with the Neyveli Lignite Corporation, currently lives in a single-room staff quarters at Neyveli near Puducherry. Many of his medals and trophies kept there had been washed away when floodwaters inundated their house in 2015.

“I returned all the medals and honours to the Sports Council so that they would be safe if something similar happens again,” he said.

Sajan was given a job with Gazetted rank in the government services and was recruited as circle inspector with the Kerala Armed Police in January, 2017.

“My friends keep asking me why can’t I build a house in Kerala and relocate. But the truth is I have not received salary for the past 21 months. I had been accorded ‘leave without pay’ till 2020 by the police department in order to prepare for the Tokyo Olympics. But I soon realised that without adequate funds I wouldn’t be able to undergo advanced training. We have been knocking on all doors to avail paid leave, but the file pertaining to my request is still with the Finance Department despite the chief minister’s instructions to expedite the procedural formalities,” he said.

Sajan had earlier rejected plum posts offered to him by the Indian Railways and the Income Tax Department in order to represent Kerala at national-level events.

It is high time the state authorities supported him, for he is one of the brightest medal prospects for Kerala at the 38th National Games scheduled to be held in Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh, next year. 

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