New Delhi: The Sports Ministry has approved financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh for double Asian Games gold-medallist woman kabaddi player V Tejaswini Bai, who recently battled COVID-19 and lost her husband to the deadly virus.
The assistance has been approved from the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay National Welfare Fund for the Sportspersons, under the ongoing jointly collaborated initiative from the Sports Authority of India (SAI), Indian Olympic Association and the MYAS to support ex-international athletes and coaches amid ongoing Covid-19.
Tejaswini and her husband contracted COVID-19 on May 1. While she is on the path to recovery at home, her husband Naveen succumbed to the dreaded virus 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 SAI.
'I was not expecting this (financial assistance) 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.
Karnataka's Tejaswini won the Arjuna Award in 2011, and was part of the Indian women's kabaddi team that won gold medals at the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games respectively.
Tejaswini informed that she came to know about the initiative from the Karnataka Sports committee member and former Arjuna Awardee Mr Honnaappa Gowda and now wants to invest the money to safeguard the future of her child.
'I have to take care of my 5 months old baby and also invest on her future from this money. I am the only parent now and will have to do something for my child,' she said.(UNI)