Swapnil Kusale’s bronze medal triumph at the Paris Games not only stirred emotions across India but also propelled the advancement of his promotion file, stuck for years at the Central Railway office. Kusale, an employee of the Central Railway since 2015, had been repeatedly seeking a promotion, but his requests were met with silence. His coach, Deepali Deshpande, expressed disappointment at the railway’s attitude, stating that despite his nine years of service, Kusale was overlooked for promotion.
However, Renjith Maheshwari, assistant sports officer at the Central Railway, assured that Kusale would receive a double promotion by Friday. He denied that the promotion was withheld, stating that the general manager had been consulted and a double promotion was expected within two days.
Colleagues of Kusale revealed that he had been deeply hurt by the behavior of his superiors at the office. He had faced dismissive and even rude responses when inquiring about his promotion. Deshpande added that Kusale was instructed to report to the office before heading to Paris to expedite his promotion file, but he declined, prioritizing his training.
Following Kusale’s medal win, the Central Railway issued a directive for his promotion on Thursday. When questioned about the allegations made by the coach regarding the delay in promotion, Central Railway’s chief public relations officer, Swapnil Nila, stated that he would need to inquire with the Pune division. He maintained that there was no anomaly in the situation and promised to investigate further.
