When Punjab government snubbed Harmanpreet Kaur for a police job

Harmanpreet Kaur’s heroics against Australia in Thursday’s semi-final in Derby has made her the toast of the nation. The girl from Moga, Punjab, hit a breathtaking 171 not out of just 115 balls against a formidable bowling attack and helped her team post a massive total on the board. In reply, the Aussies gave a good fight, but eventually, they fell short by 36 runs.

Although the entire team has performed well throughout the tournament, the semi-final win has to be attributed to Harmanpreet. Now, everyone wants a pie of her success. However, back in 2010-11, having made her debut only a couple of years back, she was yet to make a name for herself as a cricketer. At that time, she was in dire need of a job and had applied for the same in the Punjab Police. The Punjab government, though, snubbed her application.

Punjab Police’s rejection

”We had approached the Punjab Police and requested them to employ her. She had already represented India and was a regular member of the national team. We were told that there is no provision for employment in Punjab Police for female cricketers,” her coach Yadwiner Sodhi told Times of India.

Harmanpreet was compared to Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh who is a DSP with Punjab Police and told that she isn’t Harbhajan to get that kind of a post in the department. They also met the CM of the state but that didn’t help their cause either.

“That time a senior official in Punjab Police had told us that ‘she isn’t a Harbhajan Singh that we will give her a DSP post’. She wasn’t even granted the post of an inspector. We even met the chief minister, but to no avail,” he further said.

Furious father

Her father was furious with the way the politicians and public representatives had treated them.

“Not a single political party or their representative has ever visited our home since 2009 when Harmanpreet began to win laurels for the country. The least the last Akali Dal government or Congress government could have done is gave Harmanpreet a job,” Harmanpreet’s father Harmandar Singh Bhullar added.

At present, though, the 28-year-old is an employee of the Western Railways having got the job in 2013, courtesy of a recommendation of Sachin Tendulkar.