MNREGA to Asian Games medal, Ram Baboo's inspirational walk of life

LUCKNOW: MNREGA to medals is an inspirational and astonishing life story. It's the story of 24-year-old Ram Baboo Kol.

He was a waiter in Varanasi when Covid killed his job. Like thousands who caught the worst brunt of the pandemic, his only livelihood choice was daily wage labour under MNREGA. That was mid-2020. On October 4, 2023, Ram Baboo was at the podium in the Asiad - joint bronze medal winner, along with his co-athlete Manju Rani, in the 35 km race-walk event.

In UP's social divides, the Kols are at the bottom of the ladder. Ram Baboo, second of four siblings, grew up in a back-of-the-beyond village of Bahuara Bhairawa Gandhi, with his future seemingly decided - a daily wager, like his father, in an area where the land is not fertile, and no one dreams of breaking free from the cycle of despair.

Ram Baboo did, though. He wanted to be a long-distance runner. Early 2018, he left for Varanasi, the nearest city with an athletics stadium. He took a job as a waiter to pay for his stay. Covid upended his plans. But like all champions, he persevered.

His first proper running shoes were bought with the money – Rs 7,200 – he earned digging ditches under MNREGA. He took those shoes to Bhopal, where he was selected under the Sports Authority of India (SAI) scheme and joined its MP centre. Things were finally turning around for Ram Baboo.

nd in 2022, he joined the Indian Army under the sports quota. A soldier in an artillery regiment posted in Hyderabad, Asiad medal winner Ram Baboo credits his mother for the distance he has covered in his life. “Being poor hurts…but it also motivates me…My mother Meena Devi, gave all her energy and time to me and my sisters.

She always supported me in my bad days and good days on the track.” What’s next? Paris Olympics, obviously. But before that Ram Baboo has another goal, one that speaks to the realities of many Indian villages. “I want to get back the land on which my parents had built a mud-house more than 30 years back…a local muscleman has taken illegal possession…I hope the district administration will help us”, says this medal winner for India.


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