Tribal woman in Odisha opts for drudgery under MGNREGS for revival of her husband’s sporting career
The Hindu
Husband wins gold medal in veteran event by funding his travel to New Delhi through mortgaging of land
A tribal woman in Odisha’s Sundargarh district opted to toil hard under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) so that her husband could realize the goal in his kickboxing career.
Thirty-year-old Budhini Barla of Kukuda village took the bold decision after her 41-year-old husband Billu Tirkey, a teacher in government primary school, won gold medal in veteran category in the second edition of WAKO Indian OPEN International Kickboxing Tournament 2022 held at New Delhi in the first week of November.
Kickboxers from Jordan, Uzbekistan, South Korea and India had participated in the event where Mr. Tirkey shone on strength of his steely determination.
Mr. Tirkey has been working as a teacher under multi lingual education programme at Government Primary School, Barakani in Bisra block of Sundargarh district. From his youth days, he was training under Sundargarh District Kick Boxing Association. He had gone on to win East Zone Championship held in Kolkata in 2008.
For a poor tribal family, pursuing career in sports is nothing short of a challenge. Mr. Tirkey gets a monthly honorarium of ₹3,200 for imparting education in Kudhuk language. The meager amount was not enough to fund their monthly expenditure. He had no option, but to stop dreaming a career in the kickboxing.
“It was not that I left the career without giving a fight. Early in the morning, I along with my wife used to dig pit under MGNREGS so that extra money could be earned. A person can earn ₹213 by digging a pit in a day. After morning hour, I go to school as per duty,” he narrated.
Mr. Tirkey saw a possibility of revival in his career when he won a silver medal in veteran category of a kickboxing championship held in Chennai in August 2022. Based on his performance, he was selected for the international event at New Delhi.