Disabled athletes unhappy with Sports Minister's stepmotherly treatment
Disabled athletes unhappy with Sports Minister's stepmotherly treatmentFrustrated with Sports Minister M S Gill's "apathy", disabled athletes will stage a protest outside his residence in the Capital on Tuesday to highlight the "corruption" in the Paralympic Committee of India.
"We want answers for several discrepancies. Why was the Arjuna award denied to Prasant Karmakar when he was clearly a better disabled athlete than Jagseer Singh? Why was the Dronacharya Award not given to Ramesh Tikaram, coach for badminton and athletics who is a disabled person," asked Javed Abidi, convenor of the Disabled Rights Groups (DRG).
Talking about the "gross neglect" meted out to disabled athletes and sportspersons in the upcoming Commonwealth Games (CWG), where Rs 13 crore was earmarked for disability sports but was not used for the disabled, the group wants the minister to answer their queries.
"Recently six sportspersons were appointed as brand ambassadors for the CWG but no disabled athlete was selected. Disability sports are now an integral part of CWG since Melbourne 2006. As many as 45 medals will be at stake under disability sports. The minister can't neglect disability sports like this," added Abidi.
