Kottayam: Long jumper M Sreeshankar, who did the country proud by clinching silver at the Commonwealth Games last year, has been appointed as an assistant manager at the Thiruvananthapuram branch office of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on the basis of his sporting credentials.
He decided to accept the employment offer from the RBI after the Kerala government made him wait for years for a job under the sports quota.
The 23-year-old Palakkad-based athlete, who became the first Indian male long jumper to qualify for the World Athletics Championships finals in July, 2022, joined duty on Monday.
Apart from Sreeshankar, Malayali footballer Ashique Kuruniyan, cricketers Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, and Smriti Mandhana have also secured a job with the RBI under the sports quota after proving their mettle in their chosen discipline.
The current national record holder with a jump of 8.36 metres, Sreeshnkar had applied for a state government job in 2021. As he had secured a rank in BSc Mathematics from the Calicut University, he was eligible for a top post in the state government service.
However, as there had been no response from the authorities concerned, he approached the RBI for a job. While the state government sat on his application for over a year, the RBI authorities completed the formalities quickly and issued the appointment order last week. The state government has also not fulfilled the promise of providing jobs to Commonwealth Games medal winners from the state.
"As the World Athletics Championship and the Asian Games are scheduled to take place this year, a job of permanent nature and the security it offers would boost my confidence and help me do well," said Sreeshankar.
Sreeshankar, who has been winning medals for Kerala at national championships since 2014, wants to represent the state in the future as well.
