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Dubai: A four-year-old Indian boy being groomed to become an Olympic runner after running a 65-kilometre distance in seven hours was in Dubai yesterday to receive a Dh150,000 trust fund.
He will also be getting a medical check-up and seeing a nutritionist today.
Budhia Singh made the headlines in India this year when he ran from Jagannath temple, Puri, to Bhubaneshwar in his home state of Orissa. He was accompanied by his coach and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) border guards.
The trust fund has been donated by the Koohiji Group, based in Dubai, to secure his future and give him an education. S.S. Rajkumar, vice-chairman of the Koohiji group, said it was a one-off payment. "The boy needs to be able to receive an education in the future and he should get an education if he chooses to," said Rajkumar.
"An exceptional talent like Budhia Singh needs to be nurtured. At the same time, he deserves to have the freedom to choose what he wants to do," he said.
The fund will be administered in conjunction with a charity fund set up by Priyabrata Patnaik IAS, Chairman and Managing Director of the Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Orissa, to benefit Budhia's family and the children of the Gautam Nagar slum area where Budhia grew up.
Budhia's story has particular poignancy as his widowed mother, a former dish washer, was unable to provide for her four children and sold Budhia to a street vendor for 800 rupees (Dh63).
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