Special girls won't miss the bus to Athens

A day after MiD DAY report, state hurriedly issues passports to three Athletes for Special Olympics

A day after MiD DAY report, state hurriedly issues passports to three Athletes for Special Olympics

A day after MiD DAY carried a story that three city girls may miss the Special Olympics Games in Athens because of a delay in issuing of their passports, the state yesterday hurriedly cleared the pending files, rekindling their hopes to participate in the 10-day sporting extravaganza starting from June 25.


(L-R) Badminton player Sakhu, volleyball player Heena, handball athlete Kavita and cycling champ Meri Manda will represent India at Special Olympics in Athens, in June

The Regional Passport Office, Worli, cleared the files, pending for more than two weeks, and dispatched the passports to their legal guardian Home for Mentally Deficient Children, Mankhurd, on Wednesday.

According to senior passport officials, the girls will get the documents today and "they will definitely not miss the sporting event, though the deadline for submitting passport numbers ended on Tuesday".

Assistant Passport Officer B S Rokade, who was the approving authority for the girls' passport applications, confirmed the development, "All three passports have beenu00a0issued and dispatched through speed post which the girls will get by Thursday. We have informed this to the Children's Home officials also."

When MiD DAY contacted Sandra Vaz, area director, Special Olympics Bharat Maharashtra, she said, "I have informed our Delhi office that those much-awaited passports of girls from the Makhurd home have been finally dispatched by Regional Passport office.

Hopefully, I will get it on Thursday, following which we will scan it and submit it to the authorities immediately. The girls will not miss the Games and we sincerely thank MiD DAY for following the issue to itsu00a0 the logical end."

Girls' reaction

When the girls got to know about the issuance of passports and that they will be able to participate in the Athens event, they couldn't hold back their tears.

If an overjoyed Meri Manda, the cycling champ who is au00a0 slow learner, kissed her bike and hugged her instructor, volleyball champion Heena, whose hearing is impaired, just held her teacher's hands, tears welling up in her eyes.

The third girl, badminton player, Sakhu, looked very calm and composed, but a glint of happiness in her eyes betrayed the joy behind her stoic face.

Kavita, a deaf mute who was the only player who got her passport two weeks ago, was visibly excited as she knew that her friends would be accompanying her to the Games.

So why did the passport office delay issuing the passports? Regional Passport Office head Vinay Chaube, who personally looked into the matter, said, "There were several bits of information missing in the applications, hence the delay."

The Children's Home Superintendent, Anil Gite, said, "We are sincerely thankful to MiD DAY for taking up the cause of these orphans who would have missed this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity had the paper not covered the issue."

VL Shanbag, controller of Children's Aid Society that runs seven shelter homes in Mumbai, said, "We are very happy that all the hurdles have been cleared.

In fact, this (delay) shouldn't have happened. The authorities should have been a little more careful about issuing the passports as the girls are not going for a picnic or a holiday. They are going to represent the nation in the Athens Olympics."

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