Though Paralympics has been an important global sporting event since 1960 when it began to coincide with the Olympics, India’s participation in it has been sporadic. Even odd, considering the fact that though swimmer Murlikant Petkar won India’s first ever gold in disabled sports — and made a world record in the process — at Heidelberg in 1972, India didn’t send any representative to the Games till 1984.
Since 1984, there has been no break in sending representatives to the Paralympics but the count has not exceeded 10 yet. In the 2012 London Olympics, Girisha Nagarajegowda, from a 10-member team of Indian participants, grabbed the silver in men’s high jump.
A silver, but it matters, to the growth of disabled sports in India. Rajesh Tomar, president of the Paralympics Committee of India (PCI), the body that selects players to represent the country in international sporting events, hammers in the point.
“Each medal matters. Indian para athletes did well in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games too. Look at India’s tally in this year’s Asian Para Games in Incheon. We upped our tally from 11 in the last Games to 33 this time. This has certainly motivated the specially-abled sportspersons and will help the growth of disabled sports in India. Specially-abled sportspersons are more and more getting convinced that they too can win Arjuna Awards, the Indian flag and the national anthem will play too when they win a medal at an international level.”
Girisha too is now an Arjuna awardee.
Tomar says since its inception in 1992, PCI’s aim has been “to promote sporting activities among the specially-abled and develop an interest in children to take up sports professionally and show them a road map to success,” but “the ultimate aim is to win medals.” Also to increase the number of disciplines for participation.
“We have to create a pyramid of participants. Right now, we are working with 17 sports federations across India to train players and help them participate in more and more disciplines. We could send players for only nine disciplines at Incheon,” he says.
Wheelchair basketball is not one of them. Tomar, who visited a one-of-a-kind workshop on the game held in New Delhi early this week, expresses hope though. “We have asked the Wheelchair Basketball Federation of India to register with us as soon as possible. Once it is affiliated to us, we can help them. The Sports Authority of India can build infrastructure, create courts laid with taraflex,” he says.
Infrastructure, he states, is at the root of success. So, in the offing is a state-of-the-art centre for excellence for disability sports. “The Punjab Government has already given 11 acres of land in Zirakpur for the centre. It will come up as a joint initiative of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Department of Disability Affairs and Punjab Government.” Tomar hopes no compromise will be made to take it to international standards. “The world class facilities in Brazil and China would need to be benchmarked and even further developed.”
Yet another issue staring one in the face is the lack of international classifiers in India. “This is a vital issue. In disabled sports, classification is very important. Say, in para athletics, running and marathon are different because one needs hand movements and the other doesn’t. Since we have no classifiers in India yet, para sportspersons are forced to go abroad on their own expense to get classified to international standards to be able to take part in world events. Creating a team of classifiers in India is a priority for me,” says the former High Hurdles National Games winner, now in the Government as an Indian Revenue Officer,
Holding more and more domestic events is yet another PCI priority. Come March, he says New Delhi will see the first ever National Para Games. “We will have the First Indian Open Para Games in the Capital from Mar 3 to 10. There will be seven disciplines plus kabbadi as a demonstration game.”
After the Incheon success, he feels the Asian region has begun to take India seriously. “So far, India’s role has been negligible in the Paralymics but we have now a vision for it. Last week at Abu Dhabi, I was elected the vice president of the Asian Paralympics Committee, the first Indian to hold the post keeping aside countries like South Korea and China which are very focused on disabled games,” says Delhi-based Tomar. The role of the corporate sector in promoting disabled games in India, he however underlines, has not been noticed unlike in many countries. “They have CSR funds but most of it is being spent on building toilets to provide support to Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. There is nothing wrong in it except that these toilets are not disabled friendly,” he remarks.
To sensitise the public about disabled sports, PCI has just made a two-minute promotional film. “We have tied up with PVR Cinemas to play it before a film. We hope to get more young people interested in the games. India has 2.68 crore disabled according to the 2011 Census. Our target is to up our game in Rio-2016 and Tokyo-2020.”
Meanwhile, Murlikant Petkar, the first Indian to win gold in disabled sports, has been lost in oblivion. No recognition, no Arjuna Award for him, yet!
