End the wage gap, say female athletes

After Dipika Pallikal recently refused to play in the squash nationals for the fourth time due to the unequal rewards of men and women athletes, we take a look at the wage disparity in different sports.
The reason I haven't played in the last three years is the same I feel (men and women) deser ve equal pay, like they do in the tournaments of the PSA (Professional Squash Association) professional circuit," Dipika Pallikal, India's top-ranked squash player, told the media when she recently decided to opt out of the National Squash Championships for the fourth year in a row.Pallikal, who clocks in at 18 on the World Squash Association's ranking and won the nationals in 2011, was protesting against the stark differences in the rewards handed out to male and female sportspersons. While men in the squash championships pocket '1,20,000, women only receive '50,000 less than half of their male counterparts' pay.
The BCCI, recently , announced a reward of '21 lakh for the Indian women's cricket team for winning the home series against New Zealand 3-2. The sum of '21 lakh, however, is paltry to say the least, when compared to the '14 crore and '16 crore that Yuvraj Singh bagged in the IPL in 2014 and 2015, respectively . Yuvraj finished 2015's IPL with 248 runs in 13 innings (14 matches) with each of his runs costing around '6.5 lakh. The BCCI had also announced a cash award of '1 crore to Yuvraj for hitting six sixes in an over in a T-20 match against England in 2007.
"It's all because of the patriarchal mindset. I remember a similar demand was made in tennis all the female tennis players came together. Today , if Dipika has backed out, then women from all kinds of sports must sta nd next to her to show solidarity. Sadly, this sort of unity is not witnessed here," says Shiba Maggon, former captain of the Indian women's basketball team, and adds, "Naturally , the female athletes will not have the same strength and agility as their male counterparts, so the match will be slower. But taking all this into account, the games must be packaged well, so that they interest the audience and bring in sponsors. Equal rights depend upon the grit of the players demanding it, the support of the administration and its interest to showcase the game."
Former national women's football team captain Shradhanjali Samantaray says, "Both men and women play 90 minutes of hockey , then why should there be any discrepancy in payment? More money will mean more women taking up sports. See, nothing is bigger than the game and the feeling of representing your country , but when the country discriminates, one feels bad."
IT'S A GRASS ROOTS PROBLEM
Some feel that demanding equal pay at higher levels of the game is not the solution when the problems start at the grass roots. Sunita Sharma, coach, Delhi women's cricket team, says "There is no proper talent scouting. No schools have sports-minded principals. There are no sponsors for the game. The media doesn't highlight achievements. Female sportspersons get the lowest government jobs. In such a situation, how can we expect equal pay? Equal chhodho, aaj tak hum 50% ki ladai bhi nahi jeet paaye hain. Individual sports are still better off, but team sports lag be hind. All this cannot be solved at the higher levels. Weed out corruption and preferential treatment at the lower levels first.Give women more opportunities to play. Give them proper remuneration and if they don't produce results, then take action."
MEN'S ANGST OVER EQUAL PAY IN TENNIS
Billie Jean King won the first Wimbledon of the Open Era in 1968. If the cheers for her were anything to go by , it was evident that she enjoyed a massive fan following. Yet, Rod Laver, the winner in the men's category , got £2,000 (over '1 lakh), while King received £750 (over '7,000). The US Open began giving out equal prize money to its players in 1973 and since 2007, Wimbledon and the French Open joined the other Grand Slam tournaments in doing the same. It wasn't all smooth sailing, however, as the female players had to face a slew of sexist comments before they managed to get paid as much as these male players. Some of these comments include: Gilles Simon, French tennis player: "The equality in salaries isn't something that works in sport. Men's tennis remains more attractive than women's tennis at the moment."
Tim Henman, British tennis player: "I think (women) should worry about getting their own tournaments at a bigger and better level and then worry about the grand slams. So I think then if they are still saying they want more in the grand slams, I think that's probably a bit greedy ."
Richard Krajicek, Dutch tennis player: "Eighty percent of the top 100 women are fat pigs who don't deserve equal pay."
'21 LAKH FOR WOMEN CRICKETERS FOR WINNING NZ SERIES, HOWEVER THIS IS WHAT THE MEN GET
2001'S MATCH BETWEEN AUSTRALIA AND INDIA
After the Kolkata test match between India and Australia, the BCCI announced cash rewards to India's highest run-getter in Test cricket, VVS Laxman, vice captain Rahul Dravid and off spinner Harbhajan Singh, the first Indian to achieve a hat-trick of wickets in Test cricket. Laxman had broken Sunil Gavaskar's 18-year-old record with his superb 281 individual runs, surpassing the earlier's best of 236. He was awarded 'lakh.Dravid who, in the company of Laxman, set the highest partnership for the fifth wicket got '1.50 lakh. Harbhajan was awarded '2 lakh for his achievement.
2007'S ICC WORLD TWENTY 20
For winning the inaugural ICC World Twenty20, along with a hefty bonus for the the Indian Cricket Team, BCCI announced a cash award of '1 crore to Yuvraj Singh for hitting six sixes in an over in the match against England. Each of the team's support staff was awarded '15 lakh for their efforts.
Some states' governments chipped in with cash rewards for its players. For instance, former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda announced '21 lakh to Joginder Sharma, who took the wicket of Misbah-ul-Haq to seal the victory. The then Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh announced a cash reward of '10 lakh each for the team's Mumbai players Rohit Sharma and Ajit Agarkar.
Air India, which employs six players in the squad, announced out-of-turn promotions for each of them. Praful Patel, the civil aviation minister, said that all the 15 members of the winning squad and their family members would receive free travel benefits for five years.
2011'S WORLD CUP
Members of the World Cup-winning Indian cricket team got residential plots. The railways further chipped in by announcing first class life time passes for them. BCCI took the lead with the announcement of awarding each player with '1 crore. Coach Gary Kirsten and other support staff were promised '50 lakh each as a reward for their contribution, while the selectors bagged '25 lakh each.
Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit an nounced an award of '2 crore for Captain MS Dhoni and '1 crore each for four Delhi players Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir,Virat Kohli and Ashish Nehra after their win.
The then Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithvi raj Chauhan announced a sum of '1 crore each to be awarded to Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan, who hail from the state.
The Punjab Government promised Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh a cash award of '1 crore.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyu rappa announced that his government would honour the victorious cricket players with a res idential plot each from the Bangalore Develop ment Authority (BDA).
Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhrayal Nishank promised a residential plot or a house in Mussoorie to Dhoni and Tendulkar, who have been a regular visitors there with the former minister's family.
Jharkhand Government said it would give a plot of land to Dhoni to set up a cricket acade my in the state.
2013'S ICC CHAMPIONS TROPHY
BCCI announced a cash prize of '1 crore to every playing member of the Indian cricket team and '30 lakh to every support staff member, following India's win in the ICC Champions Trophy.