Aamtola: 27-year-old Mamoni Das of Milanpur village in Lakhimpur’s Aamtola, just like any other village woman, has to work from dawn to dusk in everyday domestic chores in between the infamous Assam floods.
The village is precariously located between the Ranganadi river and the geo-tube embankment where every monsoon is a battle for survival.
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But, her case is even more extraordinary than her present hardships and the condition of the village.
Mamoni is a speech and hearing impaired differently-abled woman, and most incredibly a double gold medalist at the 2011 Summer Special Olympics held in Athens.
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For more than a decade since the Olympic glory, Mamoni has disappeared from public memory and is battling poverty and social stigma to get the decent living she rightfully deserves.
In the 2011 Summer Special Olympics held in Athens, Mamoni, then a seventeen-year-old girl brought glory to India by winning gold medals in roller skating in the 100 and 300 meters category.
She was the lone medal winner from the Special Olympics Bharat, Assam and her success was remarkable as the state had no skating rink at that time.
Mamoni did not get any financial assistance from any state’s stakeholders and participated in the Special Olympics without sufficient sports gear like the special knee and elbow guards.
Following the initial applause and felicitations accorded to her upon returning home from Athens in 2011, Mamoni was soon forgotten in the collective memory of the state and by those who had promised cash rewards and a better sporting career for her future.
At that time, she had the dream of skating for another ten years and building a career. The apathy and neglect by the special care school from where she was selected and by concerned sports authorities, Mamoni once tried to commit suicide by immolating herself.
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After some years, due to poverty, she was married to a differentially abled person of the same village where she is presently living with a six years old son.
The Special Olympic Bharat’s Assam chapter also has no contact with her. The National Health Fest for Divyangjan, organized in 75 cities of the country by Special Olympic Bharat as part of Azadi Ki Amrit Mahotsav from April 5 to 7 this year, also did not send any invitation to Mamoni.
The mega event in Assam was held in Guwahati and Jorhat. At the time of her Olympic success, the Special Olympic Bharat’s Assam chapter was reported to have said about a plan to apply for financial assistance for her. But this special Olympic gold medalist has received no such rewards so far.
Mamoni is being forgotten by the authorities and left deprived form everything she deserved. She and her disabled husband are also not covered by any state welfare scheme so far.
Mamoni deserves state recognition and a job under a sports or disability scheme.