Chandigarh, June 24
Special athletes (Para Athletes) who have made a name for the country globally through sports are more qualified and fit for government jobs than the sons of Congress MLAs and leaders. The statement was made by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA and Youth Wing president Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, who arrived in Chandigarh on Thursday, along with the special athletes and players who were being ignored by the government to gherao the Chief Minister’s residence and return their awards. Hayer alleged that the Captain Amarinder Singh-led Congress government in Punjab was not taking any gist of the players of the state but was rewarding rich Congress MLAs and leaders with jobs in the name of compassion. He said that the Captain government had made a lot of announcements for the players; but sportspersons and medal winners who had played for the country, from state level to the international level were living in poverty today.
Hayer said that during its tenure, this government had given certificates and honors to various sportspersons in the name of various awards, but had shunned the amount of honor and the job they deserved. Taking a dig at the Captain government, Meet Hayer asked whether these awards alone would fill their stomachs and their needs. “Why doesn’t the government give jobs to the players? Instead, on the orders of Captain Amarinder Singh, the police are cracking down on the players demanding their rights, which should be condemned,” he added. Hayer appealed to the state government to arrange jobs and facilities for the athletes before eyeing for Olympic medals. He said that the Para Athletes had also staged a dharna last year to remind the government of the promise of jobs and at that time the Congress state president Sunil Jakhar and advisor to the Chief Minister, Capt Sandhu had promised to provide jobs and award money soon.
He alleged that the Captain government had so far neither given awards nor government jobs to the para players and that is why; all the para players had come to the residence of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh to demand their rights. During this, the protesting para athletes and the Aam Aadmi Party workers were bullied by the police, in which several para athletes were injured. Later the para-athletes and the AAP leaders were detained and taken to the police station. On the occasion, Mohali district incharge Govinder Mittal, Ropar district president Harminder Singh Dhahe, Prabhjot Kaur, Anu Babbar, Sunny Singh Ahluwalia, Kashmir Kaur, Shweta Puri, Swarnjit Kaur Baltana, Amardip Kaur, Parminder Goldy, Karamjit Singh Chauhan, Ramesh Sharma, Prince Dhaliwal among other party leaders and workers were also present.
