Punjab’s only paralympian left to fend for self; denied aid,leave

Rahelu seems to suffer from a serious anomaly in the Punjab sports department’s policy towards the sport of powerlifting. While he was made a powerlifting coach at the Para Sports Academy in Jalandhar in 2010,on the basis of his 2004 medal, the athlete says that the department does not recognise the sport. Due to this,he has neither been given financial assistance nor has he been granted leave to participate in the games. “It is ridiculous that I am given a job for my achievement in the 2004 Greece Paralympics by the Punjab government but now the same department is not recognising the sport,which is recognised internationally,” Rahelu says.

While he was granted leave for the Commonwealth Games,only after a letter from the Centre directed government departments,across the country,to do so,Rahelu was denied leave by the state sports department to participate in a two-month camp before the games.

He has gone to London on his own and his friends have provided financial support,said Parminder Singh Phullanwal,vice president of Para Sports Academy.

“Rahelu met Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal who in turn had directed the sports department to do the needful but the department is still sleeping for reasons best known to it,” said an official in the department.

Punjab Sports Director Shiv Dular could not be contacted but his office said that he had joined a couple of days back and was yet to go through the file. Secretary,Sports and Youth services,Punjab P S Aujla,could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

Medals galore

APART from the bronze he earned in the Athens Paralympics,Rahelu,a resident of Mehsampur village in Jalandhar district,has many achievements to his credit. He won gold at the 2002 Asian Bench Press Championship in New Delhi,won silver at the 2007 IWAS World Games in Taipei,won silver in second APC Powerlifting Cup in Kuala Lumpur and finished fifth in the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games.

hockey stadium facelift stalled

Amid tall claims of the Punjab government of creating a state-of-the-art sports infrastructure in state,here is a reality check. The upgradation work of Astroturf hockey stadium at Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU),launched last year,has remained stalled after the agency,which undertook the project,stopped the work as state government failed to release Rs 72 lakh as the fourth instalment for the “work already done.” An official of Punjab Mandi Board,the nodal department of Punjab government for the project,also confirmed that the executing agency had served a legal notice to Board a few months back. “The sports department had assured that the payment would be released soon,” the official added. The initial project cost of Rs 3.80 crore was later revised to Rs. 4.12 crore. Secretary Sports P S Aujla was not available for comment despite repeated attempts.