Suspended Paralympic Committee Of India Appeals To Sports Ministry For A Dialogue Over Delayed Elections

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The suspended Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) has decided to hold a dialogue to the Sports Ministry in a bid to explain their case. On Saturday (February 3), the Sports Ministry suspended the PCI because they failed to hold elections of the executive committee in the stipulated period.

The Ministry’s statement mentioned that the PCI’s tenure ended on January 31, 2024 Notwithstanding, the Paralympic body decided to stage elections on March 28, citing the Para Shooting World Cup 2024 in New Delhi (March 6 to 15) as the imperative.

In a meeting staged by the PCI on Tuesday in New Delhi, which was attended by the executive board members and advisory board members, it was decided to appeal before the ministry and make the officials understand their reason for the delay in elections.

"We had a meeting where all of us came," PCI president Deepa Malik told MyKhel. "There seems a common ground where we have to convince the government (sports ministry) and we have to go and make a very sincere appeal that the intention was not mala fide. This wasn’t to defy any sports code. As far as the intention is concerned, our election date and returning officer appointment, the whole process is in public domain.”

As per PCI's official website, the notice for the elections for the executive committee on March 28, 2024 was posted on January 25. The minutes of the General Body Meeting, dated January 12 in Goa, was posted on February 2. The decision to postpone the elections to March 28 was taken at this meeting.

Meanwhile, Deepa Malik (53) said that she wrote a letter to the Sports Ministry, seeking for an appointment to explain their side of the story.

“The team could not be changed because there is an element of faith and coordination between the international committees and countries. It is not just any sport. There are different disability categories, there are different disability requirements, there is an understanding of the equipment,” she added.

The suspension leaves uncertainty of hosting the Para Shooting World Cup 2024 in New Delhi, which is the first mega shooting event awarded to India and also offers 24 quotas for the Paris Paralympics 2024. This will be the last tournament in the qualification cycle, where around 450 entries have been received across pistol, rifle, and shotgun categories.

Malik said the National Sports Code just talks about the Olympics and as of now it doesn’t talk about the Paralympics. She said the body structure according to the IPC norms and Sports Code norms are different in response to Sports Ministry’s directive, asking the PCI to revise the membership structure.

According to the National Sports Development Code of India 2011, tenure limits in respect of National Sports Federations (NSFs) and holding of fair and transparent elections in NSFs are some of the comprehensive guidelines.

The PCI, on its official website, displays that it is referred as National Sports Federation by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) and the National Sports Development Code, Govt of India.

It's worth pointing out that, PCI has been suspended twice in the past as well over various reasons.