Money trickle in for women’s hockey team

BANGALORE/NEW DELHI: The Indian women’s hockey team bravely stuck to its stand of a silent protest on Thursday, wearing black armbands during practice at the Bhopal centre and rejecting an immediate financial incentive of Rs 50,000 from Hockey India.

The day was also marked by modest entries in their joint account, opened to help the needy amongst the players. At the end of the day, the bank said that it had received Rs 13,875 in cash and had Rs 12,500 in uncleared cheques. But there was promise of more with the players saying that NRIs were keen on contributing to their cause.

The protest on Thursday may not be as disruptive as the strike that the men had resorted to in Pune recently, as the women continued with the daily routine, but their steely resolve was evident in the way they dismissed the Hockey India offer and put forth a list of demands similar to the one the men had pinned on the federation’s back recently.

Gradation of players, monthly payments, contracts, match fees, daily allowances were some of the measures the women said they wanted the national federation to implement. For starters, however, they wanted HI to pay them a maximum of Rs 2.75 lakh as monetary reward for their stellar run in 2009.

Goalkeeper Dipika Murty pointed out that the money offered by Hockey India was pittance. “There is always a negative feeling surrounding any form of protest and we hoped there would be a solution today. But the offer they came up with is ridiculous,” she told TOI.

The women have stipulated cash awards of Rs 1 lakh each for their gold medal in the Kazan Champions Challenge and the silver at the Asia Cup (because it is a World Cup qualifier), Rs 50,000 for the Test series win over Chile and Rs 25,000 for the drawn series against Argentina. The girls sent an SMS to HI president Vidya Stokes specifying the amount after repeated calls to her went unanswered.

In the Capital, Stokes said HI has already prepared cheques of Rs 50,000 each for 19 players (presumably the Asia Cup squad) among the campers. They are considering whether to send the cheques to Bhopal or give them to players when they come to Delhi. She said the coaches and the other support staff would also be given money.

“We have decided to give them Rs 50,000 now for their recent performance. We will also recommend to the new body, once it’s formed, to provide another Rs 50,000. Further, we have also requested the sports ministry to provide them Rs 1 lakh for the Asia Cup achievement,” Stokes said.

The Rs 1 lakh is hardly in the scheme of things for the girls. They said the ministry had paid them Rs 1.5 lakh each for the Asia Cup gold in 2004 and similarly, they would be rewarded for the 2009 silver too. “Why are we talking about the ministry? We want the federation to pay the dues,” Dipika insisted.

At one stage, Stokes seemingly brushed aside the protest. “I have spoken to the captain and she told me that they are not on strike. Rather they are protesting over certain issues… The girls will have to realise that we are an ad-hoc body and don’t have huge amounts of money,” she said.

Dipika shot back: “How is it that they showed themselves to be a strong federation when they raised Rs 1 crore for the men? And how is it that they are handicapped when it comes to paying us?”

Account detail

Account No. 77052010002970 in the names of Surinder Kaur, Dipika Murty, Mamta Kharb and Subhadra Pradhan. Bank code: SYNB0007705, Syndicate Bank, TT Nagar Branch, 75, Malviya Nagar, Bhopal 462003.