PCI Suggests March 9 As Date For Holding Elections To Get Suspension Lifted

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The Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) has proposed March 9 as the new date to hold the polls to elect the new governing body members after the Sports Ministry recently suspended the federation for delaying the elections as per the National Sports Development Code of India.

The PCI had postponed the elections, which should have been held before January 31 this year as per the Sports Code, to March 28 because of the impending Para Shooting World Cup from March 6-15.

The ministry, on February 2, then issued an order suspending the PCI's recognition for "intentional delay to elect a new executive committee" as per the Sports Code. The ministry officials on Thursday reportedly had a detailed meeting with PCI office-bearers where they spelt out what the suspended para national body needs to do to get the suspension revoked.

A source in the sports ministry said that despite the PCI getting the backing of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the PCI will have to adhere to the government's guidelines on elections and law of the land to get the suspension lifted.

IPC, the world governing body for para sports, has rejected the sports ministry's suggestion for forming an ad-hoc panel to run the affairs of PCI after the government suspended the national body for not holding elections on time.

"The PCI could have held the elections earlier than scheduled, there was no problem with that. But they waited till late January to convey to the ministry that they are postponing the elections to March 28.

"They (PCI) gave the excuse that they had to make preparations for the Para Shooting World Cup because of which they were delaying the elections. But what was stopping them from conveying this to the ministry much earlier," a ministry source told.