A poverty-stricken farmer's son from a non-descript village in Rajasthan's Alwar district, Rati Ram Saini has come a long way as he realised his first target of winning a medal for the country but he now yearns for financial support to move forward in his career as well as feed his family of six.
Saini, who won a surprise bronze in men's 10,000m race in the Asian Athletics Championships here, says with just Rs 20,000 a month he earns as a railways employee, he barely manages his career as well as raise his four daughters.
The 33-year-old long-distance runner is from Dera village at Reni Tehsil in Alwar district. He has been working as an electric technician at the Northern Zone Railways in Lucknow since 2006.
"I have four daughters and my wife is just a house wife at my village. We don't have a proper house. We stay at a kucha (mud) house. It's difficult to raise four daughters with just Rs 20,000 per month salary. The oldest is in class three and I barely manages to run my family," Saini told PTI in an interview.
"I have to take care of my training also. I have to buy my running shoes, which cost around 8,000 to 9,000 and it's difficult for me. I need financial support from the government or the corporate houses. I heard that some athletes are being sponsored by corporate houses," he said.
Saini, who won a bronze in his first international competition, says he also has to share the responsibility along with his three other brothers, of looking after his father who recently became incapacitated after falling from a tree.
"My father raised four of us by toiling hard as a farmer. Now we have to look after him. Unfortunately, he cannot work now as he has become disabled after an accident," he said.
