Indian shooter Swapnil Kusale was promoted to Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Sports Cell in Mumbai after his historic bronze in the ongoing Paris Olympics. Central Railway chief public relations officer Swapnil Nila told PTI that the promotion order for Kusale was issued.

However, the promotion also came after toiling for the last nine years after he joined the Indian Railways. He began his job as a Commercial cum Ticket Clerk in Central Railway’s Pune Division in 2015. However, he was never promoted despite pleading for it time and again.

In a conversation with The Times of India, Kusale’s coach Deepali Deshpande said despite working hard for nine years and winning medals at multi-national events, the shooter was never promoted. 

Kusale won gold medals at the Asian Games in China in 2023, in the World Cup in Baku in 2022, and in New Delhi in 2021.

“He was very disappointed by the attitude of his office. He has been working with the Railways for the past nine years, but was never considered for promotion,” Deshpande was quoted as saying by TOI.

But the Indian Railways denied the allegations leveled by Deshpande. Speaking with Tim of India, Central Railways assistant sports officer, Renjith Maheshwari called it ‘incorrect information’.