Jyoti Chhetri looks to rise up the order in women's hockey to save home from demolition

Jyoti Chhetri impressed the home crowd in Rourkela during the Women’s FIH Pro League encounter against USA. Also in attendance at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium were her parents, less than two kilometres from their home in Panposh.

Away from the limelight and surge in pecking order, Jyoti and her parents have been embroiled in a battle to avoid demolition of their home.

Jyoti’s father Bhim, a mason, said the family were served a notice by authorities to vacate their house to make way for widening of a road - a project undertaken by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).

The family moved into the property 20 years ago and built a house on an estimated 300-square-foot plot of government land without any papers. It sits right across the Panposh Sports Hostel which has produced the likes of former captain and current Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey, ex-internationals Lazarus Barla and Prabodh Tirkey, and current India men’s team defender Amit Rohidas.

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“I moved to Rourkela from Ranchi in 1988,” Bhim said in a conversation with Indian Express. “When I first came here, I was a watchman at the hostel and stayed in quarters they provided. I joined their canteen as a helper cook. Then I got married, two kids were born and the place was too small to live with the family.”

The family of four moved into the vacant plot soon after Jyoti was born and has been their home until two years agi when local authorities landed unannounced. “Some 8-10 government officials came to take measurements and informed us that they will demolish the house,” Bhim said as per the report. “They gave us time till 2025 or latest 2026 before the demolition job begins….We cannot afford to buy a new house or land. We have requested the government officials to rehabilitate us. They asked us for our Aadhar cards and other documents. But there is no response yet.”

The objective of the redevelopment project is to raze the house and broaden the one-lane road to avoid bottlenecks on the bridge that connects Kuarmunda to Panposh.

Jyoti approached the Additional District Magistrate six months ago. She was assured that “they will do something” but there’s been no action since.

The forward hopes her success with the Indian team can help her family out. “If I do well in hockey and continue playing in the future, then I may get some financial support or win prize money. With that, I can support my family,” she said.

Her father, though, wishes she focus on the career and not get distracted. “We are worried what will happen but have told Jyoti to play without any pressure, without thinking about any of this.”