BHUBANESWAR : It is possible to overlook the diminutive Anupama Swain, but impossible to ignore the proven powerhouse of sporting talent she is. Unfortunately, for the girl from Keonjhar district who pulls off jaw-dropping feats of strength and also excels in martial arts on the national and international stage, it is not enough in a facet of life where she wants it to count.
Anupama has run into one wall after another in trying to establish her Asian Powerlifting Championship gold medal for a Group A job in the Odisha government.
After winning at the Asian Powerlifting Championship in 2017, Anupama approached the state government for a higher post commensurate with her sporting achievements. She is a constable with Odisha Police.
On November 11, 2022, a high-level government committee considered achievements at the Asian Powerlifting Championship equivalent to those at the Asian Games and recommended two women sportspersons’ names, including Anupama’s, for appointment in Group A posts.
Anupama was ignored, while another sportswoman was allegedly given a job after a recommendation under the same criteria. On January 10, 2024, the second high-level committee meeting recommended eight sportspersons, including Anupama, could be considered separately for promotion.
Despite repeated recommendations from the police department, sports department and Legislative Assembly Standing Committee for Anupama’s appointment to a higher post, her demand remains unfulfilled.
Anupama finds herself on the wrong side of a decision she has no control over. “The state government provides jobs to players whose (event’s) national federation is recognised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS). Anupama won the Asian Powerlifting Championship medal in December 2017. Unfortunately, the MYAS derecognised the Indian Powerlifting Federation (IPF) in October 2017,” said a Sports and Youth Services source.
This is as much a source of heartburn for Anupama, as it is for her coach Hariprasad Pattnaik, who does not mince words. “She got selected on the basis of the National Powerlifting Championship held in August 2017. As per the Indian Railways recruitment of sports quota for the year 2023-24 for the discipline of Powerlifting sports, a certificate issued by the Association of Indian Universities and international federations for recognised sports achievement in the game of Powerlifting will be considered. When Railways can recognise it, why not the Odisha government Sports department?” asked Pattnaik.
Anupama, whose medal cabinet across sports is as glittering as bountiful, has weary words. “Being a player, I can win medals for my country as well as for my state. What more can I do, for my promotion? I had been to the CM grievance cell, also to the Sports minister and the Sports department, but do not understand why things remain standing still.”
Powerlifting apart, she has won six Asian medals in Ju-Jitsu and a silver medal at a world-level competition. She also represented the national Ju-Jitsu team at the 19th Asian Games in 2023.
Barely above 50 kg, bodyweight-wise she will arguably make the cut for being among the strongest persons in the world. It’s a rarefied territory, which Anupama has reached with sheer defiance of odds. Belonging to a farmer’s family, she came to Bhubaneswar city in 2010 to join a beautician course. Her goal then was to open a salon in Keonjhar to help her family. While in Bhubaneswar, she joined Pattnaik’s Utkal Karate School to learn self-defence.
Her Bhubaneswar stay was to be “just for nine months” but she overturned the script. “After joining karate, I won my first national medal in 2010. I won three national medals in karate discipline before joining the Odisha Police as a constable under the meritorious sportsperson category in 2015. My love for sports and with the help of my coach Hariprasad Pattnaik sir, I learned the skills of karate, powerlifting and Ju-Jitsu sports,” Anupama said.
Braving career-threatening injuries and challenges, Anupama keeps moving on, hoping her work does the talking for her and people take note.