It is finally official and ace shuttler P.V. Sindhu is set to join the Andhra Pradesh state cadre as Deputy Collector, as a Group-1 officer. The State Government on Tuesday made necessary amendments to the Public Services Commission Act and got them approved at a special session of the assembly convened for passing the GST Bill.
Sindhu, currently ranked world number 4 in the BWF World Ranking, is likely to get the appointment orders within a couple of weeks, after Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan gives his nod to the amendments.
Certain provisions in the Andhra Pradesh (Regulation of Appointments to Public Services and Rationalisation of Staff Pattern and Pay Structure) Act, 1994, had prevented the appointment of the badminton player. As per the rule, any recruitment in public service should only be through the AP Public Service Commission, selection committee or employment exchange. The government decided to amend section 4 of the law to enable the direct appointment of the player in the cadre of a revenue divisional officer.
Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu introduced the bill to amend the Act and it was passed unanimously in the House. The bill was later passed by the Legislative Council as well. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu announced in the assembly that his government intended to appoint Sindhu as the state's sports ambassador.
"We will give government jobs to other meritorious sportspersons as well," he said.
Earlier, the state government had given her Rs 3 crore as cash prize and a 1,000 square yard residential plot in Amaravati immediately after she won silver medal at Rio Olympics last year. At present, Sindhu is working as a deputy manager in Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL).
“Sindhu has shown extraordinary grit at the Olympics. The state government, on its part, is trying to honour her in our own way by offering her deputy collector's post. The earlier governments have neglected sports in the state, but we will do our best to retain the talent,” Naidu said while passing the amendments to state Public Services Commission Act, facilitating Sindhu’s appointment. His government had also offered a 10 acre plot in Amaravati to Pullela Gopichand for setting up a Badminton academy.
The 22-year-old shuttler lives in Hyderabad and gets training at the Pullela Gopichand Academy. However, her mother Vijaya Pusarla said the shuttler would take up the job with the AP government. Sindhu preferred AP to Telangana even as the Telangana government made a similar job offer. Earlier this month, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao handed over a 1,000 square yard plot in the up market Shaikpet area. Rao also presented her a cash reward of Rs 5 crore immediately after she returned from her successful Olympics campaign.
Sindhu’s silver medal win in the women's singles event of the Rio Olympics made her the first Indian shuttler to reach the final of an Olympics badminton event and the youngest Indian to make a podium finish in an individual event at the Olympics.
