Arushi in association with Dilip Buildcon, Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalya, Chief Electoral Officer and Hotel Taj Lakefront supported by LIC, Madhya Pradesh Tourism, Mittal Institute and Aquarius organized "The 18th Blind Challenge Car Rally 2024" on Sunday, 14th January 2024. The route of the rally was managed by Event Management Group- Genius. This year the rally was given a name by Gulzar Sahab- 'HAMSAFAR' giving a message that we have to make all tourist places and other public places disabled friendly and include persons with disabilities with us in every way. Honorable Minister of Sports and Youth Welfare, Cooperatives, Shri Vishwas Kailash Sarang was present as the Chief Guest and flagged off the first vehicle and started the rally from DB city Mall, Bhopal. Shri Sarang said that society should take along the persons with disabilities and keep empathy for them and help them in all their endeavors. Shri Amitabh Pandey, Director, Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, Mrs Neelam Goenka from Chirayu Medical College was also present as Special Guest along with many volunteers and friends of Arushi. The first car was driven by Shri Aruneshwar Singh Deo.
The rally moved through clear roads of Arera Hills, Bhopal Haat, Vyapam, 6 No., 5 no. , Char Imli, bittan market, Arera colony, 1100 quarter, Shaitan Singh crossing, bansal hospital, shahpura thana, Choona Bhatti, Nehru nagar, bhadbhada, bharat Mata chowk, and ended at Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya. Enroute were check points to ensure, no-one drives fast, and all traffic rules are strictly followed.
The rally where the vehicle was driven by a sighted person and the navigator was a blind person, the route map in Braille was given to them on the spot. The navigators for the rally were from all over Madhya Pradesh. The rally covered around 30 kms distance within the Bhopal Municipal limits. Throughout the route all road safety norms and speed limits were strictly followed as told by the event manager Mr. Neeraj Gulati from Genius- a Creative group.
All safety measures under the government guidelines were strictly followed. The competition was divided into two categories- 1. Expert class who have been winners in any of Arushi's Car rally previously. 2. Novice Class who have not won any of the rally's or are participating for the first time. Competitors finishing with minimum penalty points were declared the winners, as there was one penalty point for each minute delay and 5 penalty points on entering one minute early at the check points.
The prize distribution programme was organized at Vithi Sankul auditorium of Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya. Shri Amitabh Pandey, Director, Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, Ramesh Shah (USA) and Dr. Rohit Trivedi was present for giving the prizes to the winners. Shri Amitabh Pandey addressed the participants and congratulated Arushi team and team Genius for successfully organizing this event. There were cash prizes and trophies for first two winners and gifts to all navigators. Total 50 vehicles participated in the rally. The navigators were from various districts of Madhya Pradesh.