Kolkata: Around 400 people on Friday joined hands for a walk here, in a bid to speed up the process of reconstituting the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) and have a clean and corruption-free organisation. A recent fiasco at the national para games in Ghaziabad where 800 para-athletes were deprived of good food, lodging and disability accessibility services, led to the suspension of the PCI. But since then, for the last four months, there have been no concerns over reforming the committee.
The walk was organised by Civilian Welfare Foundation (CWF), an organisation working for the rights of disabled people and para-athletes. Disability schools including Manovikas Kendra, Mobility India, Morning Glory joined in the venture. Football fan clubs that came in were FIIOB, Chelsea India Supporter Club, Die Hard East Bengal. Amitie Trust came in with a lot of support and CRY members were present too.
Para-athletes who joined the event were Balwinder Singh and Aditya Tiwari from Uttar Pradesh, Rubia, Saheb Hussain and Alok Das. The Bengal Paralympic Swimming Association joined in too. Devika Malik, a queens award recipient, also took part. The event was also supported by comedian and radio jockey Mir. The walk also dealt with the issue of participation of women athletes in para sports. Till now, no Indian woman athlete has competed in the Paralympic Games.
