‘No pets, wheelchairs on cricket ground’: At IAF sports complex, signboard sparks outrage

It adds: “The… ground, which has hosted first class and List A matches for the Services Cricket team, has also been approved by the International Cricket Council for use as a practice venue for the World Cup. Restricting spectators with disabilities from using wheelchairs is a direct violation of the 2016 Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (RPDA). India recently won the T-20 World Cup for the Blind, and many blind spectators use animals as service dogs. Guide dogs are guiding eyes for people who are blind or visually impaired, and banning their entry as well as that of parents with little children in prams is shortsighted in the post-RPDA era.”

Singh told The Indian Express: “This board very categorically says even pets are not allowed… they don’t know there are many blind people who use animals as their guide in sports complexes. I have sent the email to the disabilities commissioner, who is also a retired officer from the Air Force; I’m sure he will definitely look into it.”

Officials at the Palam Air Force who did not wish to be identified told The Indian Express: “On the cricket field, wheelchairs, pets and prams, etc are not allowed, basically to ensure that the surface is not spoiled. People who want to take a stroll around the ground; there is no restriction on that. Only on the greens or the pitch per say it is not allowed, and that is true for almost all places.”

A visitor who regularly visits the premises said the issue of “disabled people not being allowed to go on the walking area, leave the pitch aside”, was raised with authorities, but “nothing came out of it”.