CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR PARA ATHLETES
6. India at paralympics With the progressive advancements in the field of Paralympics across different countries around the globe, the Indian Government has also introduced several policies and schemes for the development and welfare of persons with disabilities in the country. Out of all the 22 summer paralympic sports, 20 sports are being practised in India but only in 9 such games India have been an active participant in paralympics. The journey of India at the Paralympics has not been a very smooth one but with successive years, the progress has just been considerable enough to be quoted. YEAR 1960, Rome 1964, Tokyo 1968, Tel Aviv 1972, Heidelberg 1976, Toronto 1980, Arnhem 1984, New York 1988, Seoul 1992, Barcelona 1996, Atlanta 2000, Sydney 2004, Athens 2008, Beijing 2012, London 2016, Rio de Janeiro 2020, Tokyo
NO. OF MEDALS PARTICIPANTS Did Not Participate Did Not Participate 10 0 10 1 Did Not Participate Did Not Participate 5 4 2 0 9 0 9 0 4 0 12 2 5 0 10 1 19 4 54 19 Table 7: Progress of India over the years; Source: Wikipedia
The following table shows the overall progress of India at the paralympics from the year 1960 to 2020.
7. Inference This slow yet sturdy progress of India at the Paralympics suggests that the country has a strong potential of achieving remarkable wonders at the Paralympics, yet the country has witnessed minimal participation at the Paralympics over the years. Unavailability of proper infrastructure and services, lack of trained coaches, and lack of awareness of disabled sports amongst the society are some of the core reasons that have affected the participation of the country in the Paralympics.
64 | PROPOSALS AND INTERVENTIONS
