No Funds, Irresponsible Officials: Para Swimmer Reveals Plight

Kanchanmala Pande won silver at Berlin Para-Swimming Championships despite the ordeal.

Kanchanmala Pande.

(Photo: ANI Screenshot)

Kanchanmala Pande is only the Indian to qualify for the World Para Swimming Championships in Mexico later this year. Pande and Suyash Jadhav bagged silver medals at the Para-Swimming Championships in Berlin. However, Pande has alleged that the Indian para-athletes contingent were left to fend for themselves in Germany.

Pande says she was forced to take a loan to fund her trip. She also says she was forced to borrow money for food, lodging and transport at the Berlin competition because the Paralympic Committee of India (PCi) failed to provide funds for her and five other sportspersons.

The Sports Authority of India had transferred the funds to the PCI for the tour. However, Pande says that they were told a few days before their departure that PCI could not send them the funds because they didn’t have the needed approval from Justice (Retd) Kailash Gambhir, who was appointed by Delhi High Court as Chairman of the Committee.

"A few days before the tournament, PCI asked us to pay for our lodging and boarding and said they would reimburse us later," she said.

I asked them for a letter for the loan but they refused. I managed, but if I hadn’t got a loan, I wouldn’t have gone and wouldn’t have had a chance at qualifying for World Championships.

Read the fully story here: Para Swimmer Forced to Borrow Money, Goel Says Funds Were Released

Pande says the coach who was assigned to accompany them did not fulfil any of his duties. Besides having to deal with paperwork because she was registered for the wrong event, Pande was almost fined on the Berlin tram as the official had failed to provide them with passes.

PCI didn’t even send an entry fee. I told the official I didn’t have enough money for food, but he still asked me to pay the fee.

After Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra tweeted about the incident, athletes like Somdev Devvarman and Mahesh Bhupathi lashed out at the callous behaviour of the officials concerned. Sports Minister Vijay Goel has vowed to probe the issue.

Video Editor: Ashutosh Bhardwaj

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