Arvind Kejriwal announces Rs 3 lakh assistance to Delhi state athlete Lokesh

Several weeks back, a story appeared on Twitter about a middle distance runner in Delhi named Lokesh. His story was nothing short of heart rending and was taken up in a tweet by journalist Andrew Asman. It was about how Lokesh was struggling in his athletics career due to lack of financial assitance. Despite having won several medals at the state level for Delhi, his family could not provide for his daily nutritional upkeep. His father was a rickshaw puller and mother worked as a housewife. As per the story, he did not have enough money to take a daily bus to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to train. The 400m runner even said "We don't have money for milk. I've been drinking warm water and practicing."

Help came through this amplified tweet in the form of monetary assistance from the state government. Arvind Kejriwal recently handed over a cheque for 3 lakh to Lokesh.

Kejriwal in his tweet stated, "Two days ago I came to know about Lokesh, today I met Lokesh and handed over a check of Rs 3 lakh. Will not let lack of money come in the way of talent".

This is definitely a necessary financial boost required for Lokesh and his family who have supported his career for a long time now. One can only hope that such stories come to the attention of sports governing bodies sooner rather than later.