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SAI director-general Injeti Srinivas addressed a hurriedly-arranged press conference at the national body's headquarters in the Capital on Saturday. The Sports Authority of India (SAI)

may have swung into action and announced a slew of measures to avoid a Kerala-like tragedy, but what's stopping it from taking action against the offenders? SAI director-general Injeti

Srinivas addressed a hurriedly-arranged press conference at the national body's headquarters in the Capital on Saturday. The IAS officer had just returned from his visit to the Water

Sports Centre in Kerala's Alappuzha district where four promising athletes, including the deceased Aparna Ramabhadran, tried to end their lives by consuming a poisonous fruit under an

apparent suicide pact following alleged harassment by seniors. Srinivas spoke of the need to set up grievance redressal cells, 24x7 anti-sexual harassment helplines for trainees and

athletes, constitute advisory boards headed by eminent sportspersons and coaches to help athletes overcome physical and mental trauma besides appointing psychologists and counsellors at its

75 training centres and Special Area Games (SAG) units. He even urged the star athletes to adopt a SAI centre to offer their support and expertise to athletes in distress. That's a good

start. But why has SAI, in all these years, chosen to ignore complaints, especially the ones lodged by female athletes accusing coaches, trainers and SAI administrators of harassment. In

August 2012, a rape case was filed against SAI coach YK Singh after he allegedly tried to force himself on a junior weightlifter at a stadium in Uttarakhand's Udham Singh Nagar. In

February 2014, a police complaint was filed against the 38-year-old SAI coach KB Singh. He was booked for molestation and harassment following a complaint from a trainee put up at the

SAI's Kandivli centre in Mumbai. Then, there's this case of a wrestling coach booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act after a teenaged wrestler alleged

that she and other girls were harassed by him in Hisar. All these infamous episodes indicate that SAI was in dire need of redressal cells. The death of a poor teenage girl has ultimately

prompted the powers-that-be to take such steps. "This incident has become a trigger for SAI. With the changing circumstances, we have to upgrade our systems. There is an urgent need to

do so," Srinivas on his return from Kerala. According to SAI sources, the girls were afraid of how the conservative society in Alappuzha would react to their consuming alcohol at the

SAI hostel. When the hostel warden, Sreekala S, came to know of it, the girls expected her to guide them and act as a counsellor. Instead, she scolded them for drinking beer and made the

issue public, which led to the alleged ragging and torture by the seniors. "They were afraid of their parents as well as the prospect of being thrown out of the hostel for consuming

alcohol. The four girls belonged to poor families and were afraid of going back to the same poverty-stricken society. They wanted to help their parents with their sporting achievements, but

they were made to face public humiliation," said the source. Although the warden and senior hostelites, including Dittymol Varghese and Chippy Kurien, whose names are reportedly

mentioned in the suicide note, have denied the allegations of taunting the athletes and pushing them to commit suicide, many people Srinivas spoke to during his 24-hour visit to Alappuzha

hailed the warden as a "godmother". Srinivas, too, admitted that all his inquiries revealed that there was no apparent reason for the four girls to commit suicide. Srinivas,

though, did not rule out "foul play" in the suicide incident, but maintained that his visit was more of an "on-spot administrative assessment" and that it was the job of

the investigating agencies to decide on what led the girls to take such an extreme step. NO MORE LIP SERVICE, PLEASE On Saturday, SAI director-general Injeti Srinivas spoke of the need to do

the following... Set up grievance redressal cells Set up 24x7 anti-sexual harassment helplines for trainees and athletes Constitute advisory boards headed by eminent sportspersons and

coaches Appointing psychologists and counsellors at its 75 training centres and Special Area Games (SAG) units