Now I can tell my wife about the FDs I had to break: Rao

‘‘MY achievements have been recognised at last. I have done so much for the country all these years, but received nothing in retur...

‘‘MY achievements have been recognised at last. I have done so much for the country all these years, but received nothing in return. The government should know that disabled people have a place in the world as well,’’ says Andhra Pradesh-based M Srinivas Rao, recipient of the Arjuna Award for his achievements as a paralympian in badminton and athletics.

His sentiments are not too different from the scores of other disabled sportspersons around the country; a set of people who have at various times achieved quite a bit (by far more than our ‘normal’ sportspersons have) in the international arena, but not been given recognition or money. More often than not, their quest is for that job that usually eludes the disabled.

Rao, in Delhi with his wife, three children and two friends, continues his plea to the Indian government, at the same time taking a broadside against the previous Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu. ‘‘I have approached him so many times. Not just for me. But for others like me. He never did anything. All we need is some money and a job. As far as I am concerned, I just want more work. I am a mechanic with the AP State Road Transport Corporation. They have been encouraging, but that’s about it. I have had to beg for money to participate in tournaments.’’

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All his international tours, he gives away, was by breaking family fixed deposits that even ‘‘my wife didn’t know about’’. ‘‘Now I can say it in front of her because the money I will get (with the Award) will help balance it somewhat.’’

The first of these foreign trips was to the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, followed by a series of meets and a major haul of medals. Showing this reporter a photo with his medals, Rao quips, ‘‘I lift weights, but I can’t lift all my medals together’’.

Rao shuts his eyes and says a little prayer when we check about his two sons and a daughter, saying, ‘‘they are all healthy…and I want all of them to be sportspersons’’.

The problem, strangely, is that Rao is one of a few rather privileged people. Yes, he is disabled. Yes, he doesn’t have a lot of money. But then, and Rao agrees, there remain hordes of other disabled sportspersons who are in worse shape than him. ‘‘The Arjuna goes to just one of us every year’’, he says.

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The rest, unless they are in line on some list, continue to suffer.