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He is a former national boxing champion, having won the gold medal at the 1987 National Boxing Championship.
But as luck would have it, life has dealt Krishna Rout a severe blow.
With a temporary job at the Howrah Municipal Corporation for the last 15 years, and earnings of merely 200 a day, Rout has decided to appeal to West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, to give him a permanent government job.
"Earlier, I worked for five years as a sweeper of the Corporation. In 2005 I was given the job of spraying disinfectants in drains which I have been doing for the past ten years," said Rout, the 1992 silver medalist at the National Boxing Championship.
"It is difficult to run a family of six, including a brother suffering from tuberculosis, with the paltry sum of Rs 232 a day," said Rout who was the winner of the West Bengal State Open Lalchand Rai Memorial Boxing Championship under 40kg in 1987 improving his runner-up position in the same championship in 1985.
"I'll soon write a letter to the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee seeking a permanent government job of my stature to live a life of dignity," said the 43-year-old.
The former boxer doubles up as a coach as he trains about 150 children from poor families in the morning before starting out for work.
"I hope nobody who has a dream suffers like me in life," Rout said.
Image: Krishna Rout
Photograph: PTI