'Struggling to repay loans, medical bills & school/college fees of children'
NEW DELHI: The story of legendary Dingko Singh - one of the stalwarts of Indian boxing -paints a grim picture of forgotten sporting heroes in our country. Twenty-four years ago, Dingko had scripted history after securing a memorable gold at the Bangkok Asian Games - a first for the country's boxing in 16 years.
A year-and-a-half after the 42-year-old's tragic death due to a relapse of liver cancer, Dingko's wife, Ngangom Babai Devi, is struggling to make ends meet in the absence of any stable source of income. It has become difficult for her to fund her kids' education and pay housing loan EMIs.
"Since Dingko passed away in June last year, it's been a real struggle for us. There hasn't been any stable source of income to take care of the family. We solely depend on Dingko's pension amount (Rs 39,000) which we get from the Indian Navy where he was employed as the Master Chief Petty Officer. I have a housing loan to repay which is still a huge burden on us, Dingko's pending medical bills and, most importantly, the school and college fees of my kids. My son, Dingson, 21, is into his third year of graduation and my daughter Arena, 16, is in class 10th. They study in residential colleges in Imphal and there have been occasions when I have struggled to even pay their fees," Babai told TOI on Tuesday.
Before Dingko passed away, he was posted as a senior coach at the SAI's Special Area Games (SAG) Khuman Lampak sports complex in Imphal. Babai said she had formally applied for a job in the administrative department of the centre in August last year, but didn't get to hear from its director despite numerous reminders.
"The director (Ibomcha Singh) has been very cooperative. I don't have any formal qualifications to be employed as a coach in place of Dingko. But I have done my graduation in arts and can work in the administration department or in a management position at the SAG centre. I had submitted my educational certificates and other documents to the director on his insistence for a suitable job, but there hasn't been any development in this direction. I have also sent several mails to the SAI headquarters in Delhi for a job at the centre, but to no avail.
"It's my humble appeal to provide me with a job so that my family can sustain. It's a request from Dingko's widow to the sports ministry, SAI and the state government and its chief minister N Biren Singh to help my family in its hour of crisis," Babai appealed.
