Help pour in for Santhi Soundarajan, Maken says govt. keen on restoring her honour

So finally Santhi Soundarajan is finding sympathy from the people who matters. A day after TOI highlighted the plight of Asiad medallist Santhi Soundarajan, forced to work as a daily wage earner at a brick kiln in Tamil Nadu, Union sports minister Ajay Maken declared that the government was keen on restoring her honour just as South Africa had fought for the dignity of sprinter Caster Semenya, says a report in The Times Of India.

Help also poured in from other quarters, with state-run gas utility GAIL announcing an immediate relief of Rs 1 lakh to Santhi, who was stripped of her 800m silver medal after she failed a gender test at the Asian Games in Doha. A senior GAIL executive met Soundarajan to convey the decision.

Maken called up TOI from London expressing shock at the turn of events. "I am concerned over the plight of Santhi who won a medal for us at the Asian Games. To set things right, I would want Santhi's gender rechecked. I have come to know that there are far more acceptable methods of testing one's gender and we will employ them in Santhi's case," the minister said.

If Santhi, 31, emerges unscathed, Maken said the government would support her in her fight to win back her records and medals. "Just like South Africa backed Caster Semenya, we would be with Santhi. We will take up the issue with the International Olympic Committee and International Association of Athletics Federations so that she gets back her records and medals," he said.

Meanwhile a report in Hindustan Times says that winner of 11 international medals for India and around 50 medals for her home state Tamil Nadu, Santhi Soundarajan saw herself pushed down and humiliated, then forgotten and forced to slog it out in a brick kiln for sustenance. But now help is on way.

"I am not being treated like a human being. All I need now is a job that secures my future," Soundarajan, who won the 800 metres silver medal in the Doha Asian Games but saw it snatched back after she failed a gender test, said.

Now there is ray of hope for her. Public sector GAIL (India) Ltd has announced a relief of Rs. 100,000 for Soundarajan.

"An officer of GAIL met Santhi Soundrarajan and conveyed the decision of the company regarding the relief. GAIL has granted this relief on purely humanitarian considerations and its decision has no reflection on the issues of the case," said a company statement.

Showing camadarie, former athelete Ashwini Nachappa in trying to get Soundarajan a decent job.