The Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports (MYAS) on Friday sanctioned a Rs two Lakh financial aid for 2011 Arjuna Award winner and two-time Asian Games gold medallist V Tejaswini Bai.
The financial assistance has been approved from the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay National Welfare Fund for sportspersons. This is a collaboration between the Sports Authority of India (SAI), the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), and the Sports Ministry to support ex-international athletes and coaches amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Tejaswini and her husband contracted COVID-19 on May 1. Although she has since been recovering at home, her husband Naveen died on May 11.
“He was just 30 but he was panicking a lot after the death of his father. It was the fear and stress that took his life,” Tejaswini said in a statement issued by the Sports Authority of India.
“I was not expecting this but the Sports Ministry, SAI and IOA took very prompt action to take this decision of giving us the assistance. This is the first time that we have been given such support. Many people like us have financial problems and if we get the proper help, it feels good,” she added.
Tejaswini was a part of the gold medal-winning Indian women’s kabaddi team at the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games. She was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2011.
A Karnataka native, Tejaswini learned about the initiative from Karnataka sports committee member and former Indian national kabaddi captain Honnappa Gowda.
“I have to take care of my five-month-old baby and also invest in her future from this money. I am the only parent now and will have to do something for my child,” said Tejaswini, who coached the women’s national kabaddi team for the 2018 Asian Games.
Featured photo: Twitter / Press Bureau of India
