Asserting that funds were released by the government on time for para-athletes, Sports Minister Vijay Goel today sought a report from the Paralympic Committee of India on how para-swimmer Kanchanmala Pande was left to fend for herself without money in Berlin.
Asserting that funds were released by the government on time for para-athletes, Sports Minister Vijay Goel today sought a report from the Paralympic Committee of India on how para-swimmer Kanchanmala Pande was left to fend for herself without money in Berlin.
Visually challenged Pande, who took part in the Berlin Para Swimming Championships with five others, was forced to borrow money in Berlin from a friend and was reportedly fined for travelling without a ticket on public transport after she was not given enough money by the PCI.
The incident has triggered reactions from the likes of Abhinav Bindra and Mahesh Bhupathi, who called the incident "unacceptable" and "shameful".
Terming the incident as unfortunate, Goel today asked PCI to submit a report within ten days.
"The Ministry through SAI released Rs. 3.21 Lakhs as 75 percent of dues as advance payment to Para Olympic Committee of India (PCI) in time and arranged tickets etc," the ministry said in a release.
"This amount was transferred in the account of PCI on 22nd June, 2017. Since the amount was transferred to the account of PCI, the players should not have been put to any hardship," he said.
"The Minister found this (incident) as very unfortunate and has ordered that a report from the PCI be sought in the matter within ten days."
Goel, who immediately sought report into the incident from his officers in the ministry, said he also spoke to the PCI CEO.
The minister said he has been informed that for some reasons the money was not transferred by PCI to the team members.
The Indian Para-Swimming team was in Germany from July 3 to 9.
The PCI, however, washed its hands off the incident, saying the sanctioned amount could not be distributed due to the non-availability of court-appointed committee chairman.
The PCI vice-president Gursharan Singh said that the national Paralympics body could not be blamed for the incident. He said the fund sanctioned by the government could not be withdrawn as the PCI needed the approval of Justice (Retd) Kailash Gambhir, who was appointed by Delhi High Court as Chairman of the Committee.
Under the order of the High Court, which appointed the committee, the PCI needs the approval of the committee to withdraw money till a pending case is decided.
"We feel sad that this kind of incident had happened, it should not happen again. We regret that this incident had happened. We will seek a report from the team manager and find out how this had happened," Gursharan told
(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
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