Hyderabad: International Chess Player Malika Handa (from Punjab) met Minister K. Tarakarama Rao in Hyderabad today. Minister earlier responded to a video of Ms. Malika on Twitter and offered to extend support.
Ms Malika Handa flew down from Jalandhar to Hyderabad on the invitation of Minister KTR.
As promised, the Minister extended a financial support of Rs. 15 Lakh & handed over a cheque for the same today.
Minister KTR stated that he called Ms. Malika in his personal capacity after hearing about her plight and the unfair treatment she was receiving from the Punjab State Government. Minister handed over a cheque of Rs 15 lakh to Malika and also a laptop that would help her participate in online chess championships.
During the meeting, Minister KTR stated that Ms. Malika has brought laurels to the country. “Many congratulations. You have won the world already,” said Minister KTR while talking to Ms Malika. “We are proud of what she has achieved till now and she definitely deserves all the credit for the hard work she has put in,” he said.
Minister asked for inputs from Malika on what kind of policies can be brought in to support disabled sports persons from Telangana. He asked the officials to study best policy frameworks which can be adopted to benefit such sports persons in Telangana State.
Minister KTR also appealed to Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur to help Malika get a Union Govt. job.
With the help of an interpreter Malika interacted with Minister KTR and said that Chess is not being seen as a mainstream sport by the Govt of India yet.“I am overwhelmed with the warm welcome and support received from the Telangana Govt. My heartfelt thanks to Minister KTR for recognising me and supporting me,” said Malika. (INN)