New Delhi : Terming the incident as “unfortunate”, Sports Minister Ajay Maken on Friday assured all kind of assistance to gold medallist archer Nisha Rani Dutta, who was forced to sell her world-class bow to repair her mud house.

Succumbing to abject poverty, the Bangkok Grand Prix medallist Dutta sold her archery equipment that costs Rs 4 lakh.

“It’s an unfortunate incident. The incident has come to my knowledge through the Sports Authority of India. We would extend all kind of help to the athlete,” Maken told reporters on the sidelines of the closing ceremony of the 60th All India Police Games (Wrestling Cluster) in New Delhi.

“The state governments should make efforts to give employment to such athletes who need financial help. The players who, for some reasons, have failed to make it to the national or international level, the state governments should ensure that they also get the employment and don’t feel neglected,” Maken added.

A world-class bow cost more than Rs one lakh and Rs 20,000 for a quiver of 20 arrows.
The 21-year-old from Pathmada village in the Jamshedpur district of Jharkhand had been trained by Tata Archery Academy and won gold medal at international archery championships, but discontinued the sport because of poverty.

Asked about the two Indian wrestlers qualifying for the London Olympics, Maken said, “I am confident that we would win more medals this time than the Beijing Olympics.”

“The way our athletes are qualifying for the Olympics, we are hopeful of performing well in the London Games. It was always our aim to qualify for the London Games in maximum numbers than the Beijing Olympics.

“Last Olympics, around 56 athletes had qualified for the Beijing Games and this time, with our Hockey team already qualifying for the London Games that consists of 16 players, we are confident that at least 80 athletes will qualify for the London Games,” he said.