Tushar Dutt
Swapnil, who has been working with the Central Railway since 2015, has not been promoted even once, despite the shooter pleading for it time and again. “He was very disappointed by the attitude of his office.He has been working with the Railways for the past nine years, but was never considered for promotion,” Swapnil’s coach Deepali Deshpande told TOI.
However, Renjith Maheshwari, assistant sports officer, Central Railway, told TOI that the Paris bronze medallist will get a “double promotion by tomorrow (Friday).”
“This is incorrect information. His promotion was not held back,” he said, adding: “We have spoken to the general manager and hopefully, he will get a double promotion in two days.”
His colleagues at the railways said Swapnil was hurt by the behaviour of his seniors at the office. “Whenever Swapnil asked about his promotion, he got rude replies and that hurt him more,” a colleague said on condition of anonymity.
“He was asked to report to the office before going to Paris to get his promotion file pushed. Swapnil didn’t go to the office since he was busy training,” Deshpande added.
After Swapnil won the medal, the Central Railways issued a directive of the shooter’s promotion on Thursday.
Central Railway chief public relations officer Swapnil Nila was asked about the allegations made by the coach about the shooter’s promotion. He said that he will have to enquire with the Pune division.
“Apparently, there is no anomaly,” he said, adding that he would check and reply.