THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As the city celebrated the 26th World Disability Day on Monday, at least 20 differently-abled athletes from various parts of the state staged a dharna in front of the Kerala State Sports Council. The dharna organised by the Physically Challenged All Sports Association Kerala, a body which champions the players' cause.
President and founder of the association, Kishor A M, an international medalist in Para Archery said, “As someone who has been in this field, I know there is abundance of talent in the state. But only one or two disabled persons from the state are able to participate in the national and international level. The government and sports council should recognise the disabled sports persons of the state and should provide us with free coaching and training facilities.”
Unnikrishnan P, a para-athlete who is vocal about the issues faced by the sports players says they deserve recognition, because despite their physical limitations, they pursue sports. "However, we fail to receive any kind of support from the government or the State Sports Council. Eight states in India already have a provision for supporting disabled athletes, but in Kerala we still don't have such a system”, he said.
Inaugurating the dharna that saw the participation of national and international level medalists, P C George MLA said,“ A prosperous state like Kerala that leads the way in bringing landmark laws has fallen back in promoting the talent of differently-abled sports persons. They don’t have the necessary training facilities or even a ground to hold their competitions. The Sports Council should do justice to these individuals and provide them the necessary support.”
Unlike able-bodied sports persons who receive stipend and whose travel costs are covered by the sports council for national level competitions, these athletes receive no kind of financial assistance. Shibu S who is orthopedically disabled has been training in weightlifting for the past one year." All expenses that occur on account of attending a competition, from the travel costs to the price of the jerseys we wear are borne by us. We are also required to follow a particular diet as part of the preparation. All these burden us financially and limits us," said Shibu.
Vineesh MR, who has won medals in shot put, volleyball and javelin throw at the national level. He was the only one from Kerala selected to be a part of the Cerebral Palsy World Games 2018 held at Spain.
After spending Rs 80,000 arranged via crowdfunding on registration and other preparations for the competition, he missed the event as he was unable to secure the visa on time.
"My father is bed ridden and my 60-year old mother works as daily wage labourer. It is with a lot of difficulty we arrange money for each competition", says Vineesh. The 20-year-old, however, has now set his eyes on the 2020 Paralympic Games. “With adequate training, I am confident that I can win a medal at the Paralympics," he said.