In 2007 Sangita Kujur was asked by her parents to forget her dreams of playing football as wearing shorts was considered taboo at sleepy Kinni village near here.
Two other girls Rajni Ekka and Jyoti Lingi of the same village who were similarly interested in playing football, also received short shrift from their parents for the same reason.
Three years on, not only were their wishes fulfilled, but they were the proud architects of a 3-0 win of the Kinni Women’s Team’s over neighbouring Barkatha team.
The forward pass in the lives of Sangita, Rajni and Jyoti were made possible by the Corporate Social Responsibility programme of Jindal Steel and Power Limited.
The JSPL, which proposed to set up a 6 mtpa greenfield unit at Patratu in Hazaribagh, about 60 km from here, is keen to promote sporting talent in villages around the project.
"The JSPL selected Ekka, Kujur and 15 other girls earlier this year as part of its CSR and put them under coach Basudev Yadav from Maharastra's Auranagabad," Senior Manager (JSPL-CSR), V P Pandey, told PTI.
Pandey said he had talks with the director of Sports Authority of India and urged him to consider some of the girls so that they could get exposure.
He said that director had assured him that he would visit Kinni and watch the performance of the girls.
