Blind cricketer Bhalaji Damor gets job as GRD daily wage worker

PALANPUR: Winner of the 'Man of the Series' award in the first Blind Cricket World Cup held in 1998, Bhalaji Damor of Aravalli will finally be able to earn himself a dignified living.
Despite his scintillating performance at the grounds, life pushed the ace cricketer onto a sticky wicket in reality, where he was forced to graze cattle and work as a menial labourer to eke out a living.
However, all the hardships will be a thing of the past when Damor will start working for the Malpur taluka's Gram Rakshak Dal (GRD).
TOI had carried a story, 'Two blind cricketers cry for help while Modi hails 3rd win" on December 19, which found an echo in the power corridors. "I contacted SP Sanjay Kharat and Damor was recommended for a job in GRD on compassionate grounds," collector of Aravalli Dr Narender Kumar Meena told TOI. Meena said that Damor will be paid Rs 300 as daily wages.
TOI had highlighted the plight of the two players from Aravalli district, Bhalaji Damor and Vikas Patel, who played an important role in India's win in the 2012 World Cup but were in dire straits ever since.
Bhalaji Damor participated in the first Blind World Cup held in 1998 and his all-round performance took the team to the semi-finals of the World Cup and he was declared "Man of the Series."
Despite being praised by then President KR Narayan, Damor, a resident of Piparana village of Malpur taluka of Aravalli district was not even considered for a job in the reserved category for blind people.
The other forgotten hero is Vikas Patel from Lusadiy village in Bhiloda Taluka, who too wielded the willow efficiently to help India win the World Cup in 2012 played in South Africa.
He too, however, is living in abject poverty even though he shot to fame after his magnificent win in the finals. For years, both players waited in vain for the state government and the Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI) to offer some help to save them from their crushing poverty. However, so far they got nothing but disappointment.
The two cricketers' miserable existence reached the public domain only when Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently congratulated the Blind T20 World Cup team's third win. Expressing his happiness, Modi tweeted: "India is proud of our athletes. Delighted that we have won the T-20 World Cup for the Blind. Congratulations to our team and best wishes to them for their future endeavours."
Patel who still ekes a living from his small makeshift cabin selling tidbits refused an invitation to play in 2015 World Cup as a form of symbolic protest against the neglect by the powers that be.
Unlike Damor, Patel's pathetic condition will continue as he still languishes in ignorance and neglect.