Times of India: Chandigarh: Tuesday, July 14, 2015.
India's lone
Olympic medal-winning boxer Vijender Singh once again finds himself in a fresh
bout of controversy.
Information acquired
through an RTI query has revealed that the pugilist, who is employed as a
probationer deputy superintendent of police (DSP) with Haryana police, had
acted in Bollywood movie Fugly' and some other TV serials and commercials
without taking prior permission or leave from his department head.
The RTI was
filed by Hisar-based activist Naresh Kumar and sought copies of permission
granted to Vijender and cricketer Joginder Sharma for working in TV
commercials.
However, the
information officer of Haryana police expressed inability to provide details
about rules related to government employees earning money without permission
from their respective departments.
The police
department officials though replied that no government employee can engage
himself in other avocations except the actual service. The response also made
it clear that both the players, Vijender and Joginder, were never given any
kind of permission for shooting.
Speaking to
TOI, Naresh Kumar, the RTI activist, said, "Normally a government employee
requires prior permission from the parent department before indulging in any
such commercial activity. Besides, he or she is also required to deposit salary
for the period that they have worked in relation to that commercial
activity."
Kumar added
that he has sought further information from the police department related to
other sportspersons who have been given government jobs through sports quota.
Recently,
Vijender hit the headlines after his announcement to join professional boxing.
His move had drawn flak from the Haryana government and its sports minister
Anil Vij, who had also said that action would be taken against the celebrity
boxer. Later, Vijender was forced to meet chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar
and had to apply for a year's unpaid leave from Haryana Police.
Meanwhile,
messages sent to Haryana DGP Y P Singhal and ADGP (administration) K K Sharma
remained unanswered.
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