Paralympics in India has finally come of age and sportspersons are getting noticed
India’s participation in the Paralympics remained gloomy until the 2016 Rio Paralympics in which the Indian contingent was represented by 19 athletes, the most since India’s first participation in 1968. In that tournament, India recorded its best ever medal haul (four), including two golds. Moving on to the in-progress Tokyo Paralympics 2020, India sent 54 athletes, almost thrice the number sent in the last edition, who have clinched 13 medals (and counting), broken the world record in javelin thrice and brought the much-needed respect and recognition to the Paralympics which has been missing in India. The tournament has made the country proud, but more importantly, it has given hope to the specially abled people in India who account for 2.21 per cent of the total population. However, how fair is it for the State Governments to announce massive financial rewards and Government jobs to para athletes only after they bring home ‘the glory’? Why doesn’t the Government understand that financial support before the competition is much more critical than the ‘reward’ that follows. The idea behind Paralympics was not to glorify the specially abled, but to make them feel able and included; however, para athletes were not given due recognition until recently.
Various national sports bodies have tried to distance themselves from the Paralympics, citing “financial overburdening” and “complexities involved in organising tournaments”. The Paralympics Committee of India (PCI), set up to promote and contribute to the development of sport opportunities and competitions, was suspended by the International Paralympics Committee (IPC) in 2015 for undermining the development of the Paralympic Movement in India. The committee was again banned in 2019 by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) for misgovernance. PCI has been insensitive towards para athletes, however, the Paralympics in India has seen improvements after the 2016 Rio Paralympics because the Government finally gave it due attention. Cricket in India has always been pampered and cricketers have reaped the most out of it, leaving little for other sports. But the Tokyo Olympics and the Tokyo Paralympics brought a shift of spotlight from cricket to other important sports. The para athletes train to compete in events which are held once in four years, therefore, it is important for the Central and State Governments to provide resources and infrastructure that motivate more such people to participate.