Constable Manish Rawat who was promoted as inspector on Wednesday by the police department, said, “Had I not been selected in police department through sports quota system, I would not have got the chance to play in the Olympic or secure 13th position in Rio Olympic race walk this year.”
He further said that he had earlier represented the police department at several national level sports events and won several medals. “What I am today is thanks to the police department encouraging and pushing me forward,” he said.
He said that there are many youths in the state who, though being good in sports, cannot move further to reach the national or the international level due to poor financial condition. “For the past four years, no sportsman has been recruited in police department though the sports quota,” he regretted while appealing to the state government to have sportsmen recruited in the police department through sports quota.
Visibly emotional on receiving the rank of inspector from the Chief Minister Harish Rawat, Manish said he had not heard of Olympic till 2008.
“I came to learn what Olympic is after I joined the police department. In 2011 when I started performing well in race walk the thought of playing in the Olympic came up in my mind,” he said.
He further said that his mother Urmila Rawat and his coach Anup Bisht have played significant role in helping him reach the stage of the Olympic.