In what could be a life-changing opportunity, the cycling federation will invite 15-year-old Jyoti Kumari to appear for a trial next month, impressed with her sheer doggedness with which she pedalled her way to Bihar from Gurugram, carrying her ailing father. Stuck in Gurugram due to nation-wide lockdown, a tenacious Jyoti asked her father to sit on the rear side carrier of her cycle and took him to his native place, covering 1200km in seven days.

Cycling Federation of India Chairman Onkar Singh told PTI that if Kumari, a class eight student, passed the trial, she will be selected as a trainee at the state-of-the-art National Cycling Academy at the IGI Stadium complex here. The academy, under the aegis of Sports Authority of India, is one of the most advanced facilities in Asia and has the recognition of UCI, the world body of the sport.

Asked about the rationale behind offering trial to the youngster, Singh said, “She must have something in her. I think cycling down more than 1200km is not a mean job. She must be having the strength and physical endurance. We want to test it. We will make her sit on the computerised cycle we have at the academy and see if she satisfies the seven or eight parameters to get selected. After that she can be among the trainees and she will not have to spend anything.”

He said the CFI always try to find out talent for grooming. “We have nearly 10 cyclists in the age group of 14-15 in the academy. So we want to nurture young talents.” Jyoti’s father, Mohan Paswan, an autorickshaw driver in Gurgaon got injured and the lockdown left him without any source of income. He had to return the autorickshaw to the owner. The father and daughter duo started their journey from Gurgaon on May 10 after buying a cycle with whatever money they had and reached their village on May 16.

15-year-old Jyoti Kumari of Darbhanga, Bihar was recently in news as she brought her ailed father home from Gurgaon on a bicycle.When her father was rendered jobless and couldn’t find a way to return home, eight-grade pass Jyoti Kumari said, ”Chinta na kare main hoon na(Don’t worry, I’m here)” and carried him on a bicycle.

The 15-yr-old pedaled for 12,00 kms from Gurugram to Darbhanga, with her father sitting on the rear side carrier of the bicycle.She covered the distance in a span of seven days and reached Darbhanga on Tuesday. The first 100 to 150 kilometers of her journey were covered in a day.

On the last count, over two lakh fourty seven thousand migrant workers have come Bihar from different parts of country so far by 185 special trains. 

Till now,positive cases of Corona virus infection have been detected in 407 workers. The highest number of positive cases were of migrant workers returning from Delhi, Gujrat and Maharashtra.

Meanwhile, the state has reported 1012 positive cases so far. In all, 411 patients have cured and were discharged from hospitals and 552 patients are presently undergoing treatment.