‘When I started playing, I couldn’t even get a wheelchair accessible bathroom: Ex-PCI head Deepa Malik – Firstpost

There is no doubt that the evolution of para-sport in the country has been a rapid one. The landscape has changed drastically in the last decade itself. The number of Indian athletes qualifying for the Paralympics and other major global para-competitions and the overall burgeoning of medals tallies are clear indicators of this.

This in turn has of course had multiple ripple effects. One very important effect, as former president of the Paralympic Committee of India and India’s first-ever female Paralympic medal winner, Deepa Malik, points out is that budding para-athletes in India these days have multiple role models to look up to across a variety of sports and disciplines.

Read |
How India achieved its biggest medal haul in Paris Paralympics

But as Deepa Malik reminds us herself in this interview – ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day.’ It’s taken years of collaboration, hard work and dedication to get to this stage, where India has the wherewithal to register an unprecedented tally of 29 Paralympic medals in a single edition of the Games. But there is still a long way to go, because progress and development must never stop.

In this exclusive interview, Deepa Malik talks about some of her experiences as Paralympic Committee of India President, some of the work put in, the unwavering government support that para-sport in India continues to receive, the major funders, how much the landscape of para-sport in India has changed, the areas where the maximum amount of positive change has taken place, her advice for budding para-athletes and more.

Deepa Malik Interview Part 1:
‘Now there are job incentives for people in the para-sport ecosystem’

This is part 2 of an exclusive interview with Deepa Malik, who was PCI President from 2020 to 2024.

Excerpts…

As Paralympic Committee of India President, what were your keenest observations…

Deepa Malik: You have to educate the athletes. Being an athlete and a good communicator, I continuously spoke to them individually and I knew exactly how they were going. There are of course many other federations and bodies who have done so much, like para-archery and Sports Authority of India – who now have their own research analysts. Then we have stakeholders like OGQ etc. Simran (Sharma), for example, had a very bad injury and everybody came together to help. She missed the Paris World Championships (2023 World Para Athletics Championships), then made it to the World Championships in Japan (2024 World Para Athletics Championships) and then converted that into a Paralympic medal (in Paris – bronze in women’s 200m T-12 sprint). So, even injury management is more professional now. Athletes are not sent to quacks. Also, senior athletes have started investing and giving back to junior athletes. That has also become an amazing culture, which is developing.

That’s so nice to hear. Also, just the fact that India sent its largest ever contingent of 84 athletes across 12 sports for the Paris Paralympics – that in itself I think is a sign that things are improving at a rapid pace. In Tokyo, in 2021, the squad size was 54, so that’s a jump of 30 more athletes in one edition who qualified…

Deepa Malik: You also have to give it to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). There are many sports which are governed by the able-bodied federations. Archery is a wing of the main archery federation. My appeal is that individually, the able-bodied associations should also give equal or more focus to developing para-sports.

Talk to me a little bit about government support. You have seen this from the perspective of an athlete and that too one who made history for India and also as a former PCI President, where you were very closely connected with all administrative workings of para-sports in the country. How much support does para sports get in the country from the government and what are the various phases of improvement you have witnessed over the years?

Deepa Malik: See, for my medal (silver in the 2016 Paralympics in Rio) I have to give 100% credit to the Paralympic Committee of India and the government. If the federation was not there, I would have never had a platform. If TOPS (Target Olympic Podium Scheme, a flagship program of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports started in September 2014 and was revamped in April 2018) had not given me the funding to customise my training, I would never have been able to win that medal. So, the kind of support that the government is giving is huge. All the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centres are now becoming inclusive (catering to both able-bodied and para-athletes). I trained for the Commonwealth Games (2010), where arrangements for my wheelchair accessibility were made at the Gandhinagar SAI centre. Later on, at the Bahalgarh SAI centre, in Sonipat, we had our camps etc, then the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium etc. With my severe disability, I made the TOPS (people) understand that – ‘I need the family, as much as I need the coaches. I can’t leave home and stay in another city with just a coach and an attendant.’ So, they allowed me to stay in Delhi and gave me every facility that I asked for. So, this whole customisation of our training was allowed. Even now, our major supporters, the people who are giving us our major funding are also Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs).

Deepa Malik says Indian government support has been pivotal to the growth of para-sports. PTI image

The main sponsorship is coming from Indian Oil or the State Bank of India. So, we are getting the funding we are getting only because we are affiliated with the government of India. The faith-building is happening because the government is supporting us. So, they (the government) have played a remarkable role. Today if I say that – ‘we are a federation and we are preparing for these Games, can you fund us?’ The first thing anyone will see is – are we supported by the government? Are we a legitimate federation? The main thing they will ask is – are these Games legitimate? Are they under the sports policy, or not? So, we are nobody without government support. And when it comes to acceptance and support as (being) mainstream – that comes because the Prime Minister and the Sports Authority of India are giving us at-par treatment (with able-bodied associations and athletes). The same welcome ceremonies are planned. The way the Prime Minister called able-bodied athletes (Olympic medallists), he also called every para-athlete who won a medal. No matter how much he was travelling etc, he made the time. So, all this gives us credibility.

In that context – we heard the sports minister, Mr. Mansukh Mandaviya, recently say at the 44th Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) General Assembly, in New Delhi that “the government has significantly increased the sports budget from approximately $ 143 million in 2014-2015 to around $470 million, today.” What kind of strategic investment have you witnessed in para-sport in the country and how much of it is directed towards grassroots development?

Deepa Malik: So, along with the advent of the Khelo India Para-Games (inaugural edition held in 2023, Haryana topped the medal tally with 105 medals, including 40 gold, 39 silver, and 26 bronze) and junior and sub-junior (level events), we also have (para-sport) scholarship programmes for the youth – below 17 years. They have around 800 para-athletes in the pipeline. There are different centres in different sports. First and foremost – most of the SAI centres have been made inclusive. A special centre was inaugurated last year on October 2, by the Prime Minister in Gwalior. This is a high-performance centre. So, state bodies and state governments have also started creating high-performance centres, for para-sports, specifically.

We also have one in Odisha. The moment you have state policies in place for para-sports, everything comes under the DSO (District Sports Officer, responsible for promoting sports and physical education, and developing sports infrastructure in their district). I come from the state of Haryana. All the DSOs are supposed to have a knowledge of para-sports because they have to do the cash awards remuneration etc, they have to do the training programmes, etc. The major watershed (moment) was the 2010 Commonwealth Games when the government was (part of) the Organising Committee and para-sports became a part of it. They had to abide by the infrastructural guidelines. Fortunately for me, that was my first major event and I never left Delhi after that.

What about educating the athletes about handling all the off-field things that come with recognition and visibility? What steps were taken by the PCI?

Deepa Malik: In my time (during tenure as PCI president), we had to create a website, properly digitalise everything, we had to create social media handles, we had to educate the athletes (about social media usage etc), get every athlete’s social media handle verified, we encouraged athletes to use the power of social media. We encouraged everybody to individually become a brand ambassador of the event (Paris Paralympics), because only one person can’t be expected to create the content. I keep guiding them. For example, now, the athletes who have won the medals, I have guided them to have their GST paperwork in place, because now they will be invited by civil entities also. So, I educated them on the financial aspect also. If we get sponsorship via CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), we become accountable to give them visibility. It’s a give-and-take process. If we don’t do that, how will we have more and more people coming on board? That is also something that I could bring to the table and I am so happy that everybody embraced it. I had learnt all of this during my motorsports career (holds official rally license from the Federation of Motorsports Club of India). Motorsports is something which is purely dependent on sponsorships. You have to carry their (sponsors’) stickers, you have to give them visibility. I had that knowledge from my 6-year motorsport career and I replicated that here.

Sumit Antil was among the gold medallists as India won a record29 medals at Paris Paralympics 2024. Reuters

So, things are mostly in place now and overall athlete aspirations have also of course gone up…

Deepa Malik: Now things are in place. Everybody is aware, athletes have become more educated now. Imagine, in the village (Paris Paralympics athletes’ village), I was talking to Nishad (Kumar – silver medal in men’s high jump T-47) and Yogesh (Kathuniya – silver in men’s discus throw F-56), both of whom won silver medals and they were saying – ‘it should have been a gold, you know’. So, aspirations are now not to just win a medal, aspirations are now to win a gold medal. They are not settling for anything less. Now, we have role models in practically every category, in every sport – archery, badminton, shooting, athletics, judo – today a person with a disability in India has a variety of sports to choose from (to pursue) and that is something I am very happy about, that this is something I have been able to leave behind, as I move on from my duties (as PCI president) – that there are so many options for a person with a disability to choose from. Swimming is a sport that we need to work on. It also comes from the culture of our country. In the US for example, you have a swimming pool in every 5 square-kilometre area and they are temperature-controlled pools. There are backyards there with swimming pools, so you see them (USA) winning so many swimming medals. Swimming is one sport in which one athlete can end up winning 4-5 medals (in one edition of the Games). Swimming is one sport we need to work on. I had to give up swimming because we need heated swimming pools because we have to practice around the year. We also need hostel facilities close to the pools. Another thing that I wanted to grow and something that I want India to develop is wheelchair racing.

Coming from a motorsports background, I really find wheelchair racing amazing. If I get the support, I really want to (open) a wheelchair racing academy and a swimming academy, where people can stay and train. Because I am a person with a disability, I know how important it is to live there (at the training facility), otherwise the commute itself takes up all the time. We really had to work hard to fund places which could accommodate 500 wheelchair users. Is there a hotel which can give me 500 wheelchair-accessible bathrooms? Even 5-star hotels have only two or three dedicated bathrooms (for people in wheelchairs). Are there low-floor buses that can take 15-20 wheelchairs at one time? Universal accessibility is something that our country needs to prepare for if you want to see more and more medals.

You are looked upon, often by young athletes, as a mother-figure. What would your advice be for budding para-athletes, who are dreaming of being on a Paralympic Games podium someday…

Deepa Malik: To believe that they can have a podium finish. It is not a distant dream. It is absolutely achievable. They now have the best time to play, in India. Finally, sports science, education, funding programmes, the awareness are all in place. Also, always remember that Rome was not built in a day – there is no shortcut to success. You can’t be a two-minute noodle medallist. It takes years of dedication – ask a Navdeep (Singh), ask a Deepa Malik, ask a Sharad Kumar, ask a Simran (Sharma) – how many years it takes to bring back a medal. It takes consistent, hard work. So, what I am saying is – A. it is achievable, B. be honest and dedicated and please combine sports science with your preparation, educate yourself about the sport. It is not just about playing (the sport), it is also about having the right ecosystem. No medal won today is a fluke medal.

When I started playing, I couldn’t even get a wheelchair-accessible bathroom. No coach knew about spinal cord injury. You also have to become passionate about it. You have to live and breathe the sport. We are all there (to support youngsters). Today you have guides and mentors. If you are really passionate about it, follow your heart, follow your dreams, work hard and be honest. And add sports education to your preparation – the right category, the correct nutrition, the correct diet. (Knowledge of) what not to eat is also a science. And stay positive.

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