Telangana: Officials games hit kids' medal hope

Hyderabad: Of the 90 swimmers shortlisted to participate in the 64th National School Games from December 14 to 19, at least 10 from the state were allegedly not able to participate in their respective events due to the lapses of the Telangana School Games Authority. The responsibility of sending students from the state lay with the Ranga Reddy district education department.

Mr K. Bala Kishan said the name of his daughter K. Sanjana, who had applied in the under-14 50 metre butterfly and freestyle and 100 metre freestyle events, was removed from the list. Sanjana had secured gold medals in the events but officials sent a girl who had secured a state-level third place to the event, he alleged.

Mr Kishan said, “I have been requesting the officers to display the names of those who were going to the games. I have contacted state organising secretary Rama Reddy. Since Ranga Reddy district officers are organising the event he directed me to them.”

Mr Kishan alleged that Ranga Reddy sport secretary Jagadeeshwar Reddy asked him and his daughter to go directly to Delhi as she had topped the state and district level events. 

“The games officials refused Sanjana’s entry. My daughter would have won a medal. She has been practising it since 12 years. Now we are clueless what to do”.

Alleging corruption he stated students who come first and second are sent to national-level events. “There is a lot of fraud in the selection. In the last four years, the online registration process was done by the parents. This year it was done by the officials. They should answer the people.”

Mesroosh Ashsaq was to have participated in the under-14 event in 200 metre, 100 metre and 50 metre freestyle events. She won a gold and two silver medals at the state level. Her name has not been registered for the National School Games.

Her mother, Ms Asma, said, “We had submitted all the documents. It is so weird that my daughter’s name has not been registered online. She was refused permission to participate. When I contacted Jagadeshwar Reddy, he sent some documents which they said they had registered online.  The national-event organisers didn’t receive any documents.”

She said when she and Mesroosh landed in Delhi for the National School Games, the arrangements were poor. “The authorities did not provide proper food coupons to the kids. The previous year also we faced a lot of difficulty. There was no food facility within a 2-3 km radius of the stadium. The officials were not present at the time of the events. They didn’t even provide tracksuits,” she said.

Mr Jagadeeshwar Reddy, sports secretary for schools in Ranga Reddy district, said, “Due to a manual error there were some mistake in the registration process. It was not done intentionally. There are about 150 events and six groups. Every person can register for three online events.  We did the online registration process.”

Regarding Mr Bala Kishan’s complaint, Mr Reddy said, “He complained that his daughter Sanjana was registered only in two events. It was a last-minute decision to organize the event. We are busy with elections.”

He said the administration had received some complaints. “We have issued letters requesting the National School Games authorities to allow the students to participate in the event,” he said.