Sprinter Dutee Chand received an out-of-turn promotion in the Odisha Mining Corporation from Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday. This promotion came months after the athlete revealed how she was facing financial issues in the lockdown.
“Out-of-turn promotion has been given to Dutee Chand in OMC in recognition for her sporting achievements,” Patnaik said after inaugurating three state-of-the-art sports facilities in the state, TOI reported. Chand too took to her Twitter account and shared the news with her followers. "I got Promotion in my job at OMC, Naveen Pattanaik sir give me the letter for getting Arjuna Award. First of all, I would like to thank my parents for all the success. I also would like to thank Hon’ble CM Naveen Patnaik Ji for always standing behind me and encourage," she wrote.
In July, Chand had shared how she was putting her car for sale as she wanted to collect funds and prepare for the Tokyo Olympics next year. This news quickly escalated and started making headlines and the state government was blamed for not supporting its athletes. Later, Chand had clarified her previous statement about selling her BMW car. She had shared a statement on her Twitter page clarifying that she was indeed planning to sell the car but not just due to lack of funds for the Olympics. Further, talking about how the car costs her a lot every month, Dutee had said that she didn't “have the resources to maintain luxury cars” and felt that it is a “spendthrift expense” on her part.
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Read the 24-year-old athlete’s earlier statement:
“I never expressed that I am selling it to fund my training. Odisha Government and my own KIIT University have always supported me. This does not deny the fact that my training is very expensive, especially for the 2021 Olympics. I wanted to make a point that this money could be diverted for my training,” the Asian Games silver medalist had said.
The state, however, had claimed that it had provided financial assistance worth Rs 4.09 crore to the sprinter since 2015. She received Rs 3 crore prize money for winning Asian Games medals, they noted.
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Chand was appointed as a Group-A level officer in Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) which “provided Rs 29 lakh support for her training and financial incentives." She broke the national record in 100-meter sprint heats. At the National Open Athletics Championships in Ranchi in October last year, she bettered her personal best with a timing of 11.22 seconds. She went on to win gold in the finals.
Feature Image Credit: The Hindu
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