Why the members of the Indian Men's hockey team are a fortunate lot
Indian men hockey players are perhaps the only ones to have secure, full-time government jobs, something that they richly deserve. Not sure how many hockey fans are aware of this. It may surprise many, but it is true that most top hockey players from Germany, Netherlands, Australia, Belgium and England don’t quite have such job security. Most of these guys make their living by either working in private firms or make moolah by playing in the Euro Hockey League, Australian Hockey League, Malaysian Hockey League and of course, our won Hero Hockey India League.
Not just India, players of no other nations get any match fees for turning out for the country. A daily allowance is all players get for playing for the country. Other expenses including travelling, playing kit, food and lodging are taken care of, though at times, daily allowance comprises food expenses as well. Given this scenario, Indian hockey players must be feel ‘blessed’ that they have a secure governments jobs to fall back on and they can at least put in the hard yards with a free mind in their quest to raise their performance bar for the country.
Let us look at the Indian men hockey players (current lot and ones who played in last few years for the country) and where they are employed.
Sardar Singh – Haryana Police
Gurjinder Singh – Indian Oil Corporation (IOC)
Birendra Lakra – Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL)
Harbir Singh Sandhu – – Punjab & Sind Bank
Rupinder Pal Singh – Indian Overseas Bank (IOB)
PR Sreejesh – Kerala State Government
Jasjit Singh Kular – Indian Railways
SV Sunil – Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL)
Danish Mujtaba – Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL)
Yuvraj Walmiki – Indian Railways
Gurbaj Singh – Punjab Police
Vokkaliga Raghunath – Indian Oil Corporation (IOC)
Gurwinder Singh Chandi – ONGC
Manpreet Singh – Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL)
Chinglensana Singh – Indian Railways
Ramandeep Singh – Punjab & Sind Bank
Akashdeep Singh – ONGC
Nithin Thimmaiah – Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG)
Kothajit Singh – Indian Oil Corporation (IOC)
Satbir Singh – Punjab & Sind Bank
Lalit Upadhyay – Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL)
Devinder Walmiki – Indian Railways
Dharamvir Singh – Indian Oil Corporation (IOC)
Prabodh Tirkey – Air India
Malak Singh – Indian Railways
Diwakar Ram – Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL)
Harjot Singh – Punjab & Sind Bank
Amit Rohidas – Indian Railways
Roshan Minz – Indian Oil Corporation (IOC)
Bharat Chetri – Canara Bank
Nikkin Thimmaiah – Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG)
SK Uthappa – Indian Oil Corporation (IOC)
Talwinder Singh – Indian Railways
Sandeep Singh – Haryana Police
Shivendra Singh – Air India
Ignace Tirkey – Indian Army
Sarvanjit Singh – Punjab & Sind Bank
Tushar Khandker – Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL)