Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday lauded Jyoti Kumari Paswan, the girl from Bihar, who paddled 1200 km on cycle from Gurugram-Bihar carrying her ailing father as pillion.
Taking to micro-blogging site Twitter, Prasad also asked Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju to identify her talent and urged him to give her full support by way of training and scholarship to develop her as a cyclist of repute.
During these difficult times we all are doing the best to help citizens. Was moved to see the courage of a young girl from Bihar who paddled for over 1000 Kms on cycle from Gurugram to Darbhanga with her father as pillion.
Spoke to @KirenRijiju for identifying her talent (1/2) pic.twitter.com/BBBxSOV6K0— Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) May 23, 2020
“During these difficult times, we all are doing the best to help citizens. Was moved to see the courage of a young girl from Bihar who paddled for over 1000 Kms on cycle from Gurugram to Darbhanga with her father as pillion. Spoke to Kiren Rijiju for identifying her talent,” he tweeted.
“Also requested the Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju to give full support to this courageous girl from Bihar- Jyoti Kumari Paswan by way of training & scholarship to develop her as a cyclist of repute, if she is willing. I salute her courage and determination,” he added.
I assured @rsprasad ji. Will ask the SAI officials and Cycling Federations of India to report to me after conducting the trials of Jyoti Kumari. If found potential, she will be selected as trainee at the National Cycling Academy in the IGI Stadium complex in New Delhi. https://t.co/4ZUFZIOJFC
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) May 23, 2020
Reacting to this, Rijiju said, “I assured RS Prasad ji. Will ask the SAI officials and Cycling Federations of India to report to me after conducting the trials of Jyoti Kumari. If found potential, she will be selected as trainee at the National Cycling Academy in the IGI Stadium complex in New Delhi.”
Stuck in Gurugram due to nation-wide lockdown, a tenacious Jyoti asked her father to sit on the rear side carrier of her cycle and took him to his native place, covering 1200km in seven days. Cycling Federation of India Chairman Onkar Singh has told that if Kumari, a class eight student, passed the trial, she will be selected as a trainee at the state-of-the-art National Cycling Academy at the IGI Stadium complex.
The academy, under the aegis of Sports Authority of India, is one of the most advanced facilities in Asia and has the recognition of UCI, the world body of the sport. “We spoke to the girl this morning and we have told her that she will be called to Delhi next month as soon as the lockdown is lifted. All the expenses of her travel, lodging and other will be borne by us,” Singh had said.
Jyoti’s journey has become an extensive talking point even on social media where there she is being talked about whether she has it in her to pursue cycling as a career. “If she needs to accompany somebody from home, we will also allow that. We will see in consultation with our Bihar state unit on how she can be brought to Delhi for a trial,” he had added.
Her father, Mohan Paswan, an autorickshaw driver in Gurgaon got injured and the lockdown left him without any source of income. He had to return the autorickshaw to the owner. The father and daughter duo started their journey from Gurgaon on May 10 after buying a cycle with whatever money they had and reached their village on May 16.
Source: Zee News