Differently-abled athletes did not have access to even the most basic of facilities at the 15th National Paralympics Meet held in Ghaziabad (Press Trust of India photo)
The 15th National Paralympics Meet, held at Ghaziabad near Delhi, turned out to be a nightmare for the 600 differently-abled athletes who participated in the three-day meet that ended today. They complained that the wheelchair-bound athletes were unable to use the ramp, the toilets were dirty and without water and the rooms were cramped and dirty.
The meet was held at the Janhit Sports Academy in Matiala Village of Ghaziabad. Construction work has still not been completed in the buildings in which the athletes were housed. The wheelchair-bound athletes were the worst hit. Unable to use the steep and unstable ramps, they did not have access to even the most basic of facilities, which were inside the building.
Vijay Saradi, from Chennai, had come to take part in the meet along with nine other members of his group. They won four gold medals in the wheelchair and two silvers in javelin throw. But none of them could use the plywood planks which had been placed on the stairs as ramps.
"We have to drag ourselves up the stairs as the ramps are very unstable. In fact, this is the reason we could not go to the toilet located up stairs. We had to go out of the building to relieve ourselves at a bush nearby," said Saradi.
Even for those who managed to get into the building, it wasn't of much use, for they found the toilets unusable. There was running water only once a day and there was no one to clean the toilets across three days.
The athletes also said they had difficulties with transportation, which was in short supply as the event was being held close to village.
"We had been to the event held in Bangalore around three years ago. We were housed at a place very close to the markets, and taken to a stadium a bit far away. The stadium was also much nicer than this," said an athlete in condition of anonymity.
The organisers on their part say they did not foresee the strain that would be placed on the facilities because the turnout had been higher than expected. "We were expecting around 550 athletes. But 1200 people have turned up, including a lot of family and friends of the athletes," said Kavindra Chaudhary, president of Uttar Pradesh Paralympic Association. He also said funds were a problem, as they had been given a budget of only Rs 2 lakh, and had raised Rs 30 lakh by themselves.
The sporting fraternity has taken note of this shocking ill treatment of differently abled athletes and now the Union Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal , has tweeted asking for a detailed report from the Paralympic Committee of India.