Squash player Ravi Dixit decides against selling kidney
Ravi Dixit has abandoned his plans to sell his kidney for Rs.800,000, after he posted his ordeal on his Facebook account. Indian law forbids selling of organs without medical clearances and approval by a legitimate medical authority. Ravi apologized for his comments in a letter issued through the Squash Rackets Federation of India, but said he needed sponsorship to continue his career.
40 year old Shanti Devi represented undivided Bihar more than 30 times including in the 30th, 31st, and 32nd National Kabbadi Championship in the 1980s. She is currently forced to work as a vegetable seller in Jamshedpur to feed her 3 sons and a daughter. She stated that she did not encourage her children to take sports, fearing that they may face similar problems.
Sita Sahu, a 15 year old mentally challenged teenager from Rewa in MP, won 2 bronze medals in the 200m and 1600m events at the Athens Special Olympics 2011. She was promised Rs.1 lakh by the then social justice minister Gopal Bhargav, but despite repeated reminders she has received nothing. Now she is forced to sell fast food in Jabalpur to make a living.
Meenakshi Rani was India's National Weighlifting Champion in 1996. She had won many medals in Asian and domestic championships; however, her living conditions are in a deplorable state due to poverty and lack of adequate support from the state. An accident in 2011 forced her to quit weightlifting and the government is yet to provide her with an alternate job as promised.
Nisha Rani Dutt, an archer from Jharkhand won the bronze medal in Bankok Grand Prix (2008) and silver in the South Asian Championship (2008). She earned a meagre monthly stipend of Rs.500-600, insufficient for her to support herself. Ultimately, she was forced to sell her Korean bow and arrows worth Rs.4 lakhs for just Rs.50,000 for the maintenance of her mud house.
"Football is in my blood but poverty has nipped my career in the bud."- Rashmita Patra, member of Odisha's under-19 football team that won the National Women's Football Cup in 2010, is now a betel shop owner due to poverty.
Ravi Dixit, a 20 year old squash player and gold medalist at the Asian Junior Championship, has put his kidney for sale on Facebook for Rs.8 lakhs. The drastic step was taken by him due to lack of money, even for taking part in sports tournaments. His post has drawn attention to the deplorable conditions and lack of support for sports persons in India.
"I have been playing squash for the last 10 years. Even after winning so many medals and representing India so many times, I do not get any support to take my squash to the national and international levels" - Ravi Dixit.
