Lifetime achiever taken for a ride

This was one journey Shauraj Venkatrao Birajdar was looking forward to happily. However, the callous attitude of a few Railway officials spo...

This was one journey Shauraj Venkatrao Birajdar was looking forward to happily. However, the callous attitude of a few Railway officials spoilt the trip for the 1986 Asian Games silver medallist, who was travelling from Pune to Delhi to receive the Dhyan Chand lifetime award from President Abdul Kalam on August 29.

On Monday, Birajdar and his family were forced to travel in a general compartment after the railway authorities declined to give him confirmed tickets on the Jhelum Express. Divisional Manager, Railways (Pune), Bal Krishna while accepting that some provision should have been made for the Asiad hero, said, ‘‘We cannot satisfy all. Some are privileged to get while the others don’t. Yes, in this case some provisions should have been made.’’

Birajdar, a boxing coach attached to a sports institute run by the Army and Sports Authority of India at the Bombay Engineering Group and Centre campus in Khadki, came to know about the Dhyan Chand lifetime award through the media on Saturday. ‘‘I had no option but to approach the office today (Monday) since the previous day was a holiday. But they (officials) refused to accommodate me and my family (wife and two kids) on Jhelum Express,’’ said Birjadar, before embarking on the arduous journey.

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The Divisional Manager’s office said tickets could not be arranged on the emergency quota. ‘‘The VVIP quota is only for ministers and we are in no position to give the same to this man,’’ officials said. They declined to give an assurance that confirmed tickets would be provided if Birajdar postponed his trip by a day.

The ticket examiner, Paramjit Singh, also said it was not possible to confirm Birajdar’s tickets. He said he would provide berths to the Dhyan Chand awardee if vacancies were available on the way.

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