In her first international meeting in capacity as the President of the Paralympic Committee of India, Dr. Deepa Malik met virtually with Asian Paralympic Committee (APC) President Mr. Majid Rashed who assessed the current situation in the country owing to COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Malik, a former silver medallist at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, met with Mr. Rashed on the second day of the series of meetings held by APC with several National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) in the region.
The meeting, which was also attended by APC CEO Mr. Tarek Souei, was aimed at learning the current situation, in regard to the Paralympic Movement in the Asian countries and; how athletes and NPCs were coping with the coronavirus?
It also included discussion on how the Para athletes were being treated by the respective governments?
Speaking on the meeting, Dr. Malik said: "It was quite an interesting meeting. Nice to have this kind of bonding with our Asian federation and its officials. The discussion reflected the mood of the region; that everyone is in the same boat and facing the same situation and, finding a solution together to overcome it.
"The meeting was more about giving the APC President an update about what was happening in regard to the Paralympic Movement in the country; how our athletes are dealing with this difficult time and measures taken by NPC India."
The APC President and CEO, Dr. Malik said, were very happy to know NPC India’s initiatives and appreciated the steps and measures taken to keep the athletes educated and mentally strong.
Educational Programmes
The former Paralympian, who took up the reigns of PCI earlier this year, said the main point shared by her at the meeting was how NPC India was focusing on the educational programmes like webinar sessions to educate its athletes.
"I also informed them that the mood of the Indian government was very positive as we had the Sports Authority of India playing a major role in conducting PCI’s 14-day webinar sessions. The sports ministry’s Target Podium Scheme has also included many Para athletes in their list, thus offering our Excellence Pool adequate support."
She also updated the APC officials about how the Indian Para athletes were becoming "digitally-savvy" through these webinars and online programmes, which also had topics like Sports Nutrition and High Performance besides Parasport classifications. "Our athletes are now reaching out to their teachers and internet cafes to learn the basic internet tools, which is a silver lining during this time.
"I also mentioned to them that the whole country is now looking up to our athletes as a source of motivation through their several home work-out videos during this lockdown. Besides, we have also uploaded SOP on COVID-19 in a website which is closely followed by Para athletes and the entire fraternity. The SOP is guiding them during this difficult time."
She concluded saying that the NPC India officials have forwarded their one-day salary to the PM Relief Fund and also donated 10,000 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits to the Indian government as a gesture of solidarity and salute to the Coronavirus warriors.
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