Chennai :
International squash player Joshna Chinnappa was on Tuesday appointed senior sports officer of Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco).
Chinnappa met chief minister Edappadi K Palanisamy at the secretariat and received the order in the presence of power minister P Thangamani, energy secretary Vikram Kapur and Tangedco chairman M Saikumar.
The decision to make a direct appointment under the sports quota was made after the squash player made a request. Chinnappa won the women’s title in the Asian Individual Squash Championship in April this year.
Earlier this year, she reached the quarterfinals of the World Championship in Egypt. She also won the gold medal in the Commonwealth Games in the women’s doubles with Dipika Pallikal-Karthik. She has won seven titles so far.
Though many national and international sport persons are employed in public sector undertaking like railways, oil companies, banks etc, this is probably the first time an international sports person has approached the Tamil Nadu government for a job.
“Squash is not very famous in the country and therefore I did not approach PSUs. I approached the Tamil Nadu government for employment as the government has allocated money for several sports persons,” Chinnappa told TOI.
“In the next 5 or 6 years if I decide to retire from the sport I want job security and so I approached the state government. I will be joining the job in a few days and only after that I will come to know of the type of work I need to perform,” said Chinnappa.
Tangedco has in the past appointed sports persons, but this is the first time a sports person of international repute has been appointed in the discom. “It is the first time an international sport person has applied for an employment with us. She stands number 1 in squash in India and 14th in the world,” Saikumar told TOI.
Chinappa’s appointment in Tangedco comes a day after the chief minister announced cash rewards for Tamil Nadu athletes who won medals in the Asian Athletic Championship which concluded in Bhubaneshwar on Sunday.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> Sports> More Sports> Others / by Sivakumar B / TNN / July 11th, 2017
