National level not good enough for sports quota?

Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Definitions in India, especially in the government departments, have a dynamic nature. They can change at the whim of a babu, or influential folk. So when the Uttarakhand police deny a Indian Hockey Federation national camp, School Nationals and Junior Nationals as eligible parameters for a constable’s post under the sports quota, the surprise is overtaken by disdain for such a system.

Mayank Rautela, a national level goalkeeper, and a native of Uttarakhand was denied recruitment by the police, even after having participated in several nationals recently, under the hockey sports quota. Much to the horror of Mayank, an unknown player was selected in the recruitment of constables for Haridwar police held in January 2010. Information sought by Dev Ashish Bhattacharya, a New Delhi-based RTI activist brought out interesting replies given by the police.

When Bhattachraya wanted to know whether any of the participants in the trails conducted by the Uttarakhand police had played in any national tournament or attended a IHF camp, the police replied in the negative, despite the fact that Mayank was a part of the trials.

BL Tamta, assistant superintendent of police (personnel) told The Tribune that they only gave importance to trials and not to prior performance and achievement as they wanted to see “how much can a player perform on the spot”.

“My son was not selected because they wanted to recruit a boy who had recommendation. How can a national level gold medallist be judged on the basis of a single trial?” questions BS Rautela, Mayank’s father. Going by the bizzare answers the police have already offered, their reply to this plea could well be another ‘quote of the day’ candidate.