RANCHI: Even though, Salima Tete, Sangeeta Kumari and Nikkin Pradhan made it to the Indian women’s hockey team, their parents and other villagers were not able to watch them play the ongoing Women’s Asian Hockey Champions Trophy 2023, due to a lack of electricity, mobile connectivity and TV sets.
Thanks to the state government which has arranged huge LED screens in their villages to facilitate their friends, relatives and other co-villagers of the players taking part in the Women’s Asian Hockey Champions Trophy 2023 to watch live matches played by India on huge LED screens.
Notably, the three players from Jharkhand playing hockey for team India come from remote villages where there is no electric or mobile connectivity. In such a situation their family members and other villagers were not able to watch the matches played by their daughters.
Now, the entire village cheers them together while they play for India at Marang Gomke Jailpal Singh Munda AstroTurf Hockey Stadium in Ranchi.
Interestingly, most of the hockey players coming from Jharkhand come from deprived economic backgrounds and hockey is the only way of life for them.
Salima Tete hails from Badkichapar village in Simdega, one of the worst Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected districts in Jharkhand and none of the 45 households here have a TV set. A day before the Olympic Hockey semifinals in Tokyo in 2021, the District Administration on the directions of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), had installed a new TV set at the house of Salima Tete, which also broke down recently, and hence, making the villagers deprived of watching their daughter play Women’s Asian Hockey Champions Trophy.
The PMO had taken cognizance of the matter following reports published in ‘The New Indian Express.’ Taking all these aspects into consideration, the district administration decided to make LED vans available in their villages.
“Since the villages of Salima Tete and Sangeeta Kumari are located in remote areas there are network issues and there is also a problem of electricity, therefore, the state government has provided an LED Van in their villages so that their family members and villagers could enjoy live matches on large screens,” said District Public Relations Officer Asha Maxima Lakra.
All the matches played by India are screened on these huge LED screens so that they can cheer up their daughters while they play for India, she added.
Lakra also added that live screening of matches will also give exposure to budding hockey players and help them excel in the game. The LED van operator also informed us that they are getting good responses from the villagers and they are enjoying the matches played by India.
As soon as the match starts, people throng the LED vans to watch the village daughter play hockey. Salima’s brother Anmol Tete also hailed the decision of the state government. “We are really thankful to the state government which has provided LED screens for the villagers.
Even if somehow we get into the network zone, it was not possible to watch the matches on our mobile phones as it is available only on the Sony Liv channel,” said Anmol Tete.