Paralympic Committee of India proposes new date of election

The Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) has suggested a new election date to hold the polls for the new governing body and revoke the suspension from the Sports Ministry.

The PCI had postponed the elections, which should have been held before January 31 this year as per the Sports Code, to March 28 because of the impending Para Shooting World Cup from March 6-15.

Earlier this month, the Sports Ministry suspended PCI for delaying the elections as per the National Sports Development Code of India.

In a meeting between Sports Ministry officials and PCI office-bearers on Thursday, PCI proposed 9th March as the new date of elections to get the suspension revoked.

Despite getting the backing of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the PCI will have to adhere to the government's guidelines on elections and the law of the land to get the suspension lifted.

On 12th February, IPC, the world governing body for para sports, rejected the sports ministry's suggestion for forming an ad-hoc panel to run the affairs of PCI.

IPC told ministry that PCI hasn't violated any of the member obligations and they don't see any need to intervene in the governance of the body.

The whole matter has been narrowed down to a lack of communication from PCI to the Sports Ministry. Despite the deadline for elections expiring, PCI failed to communicate the delayed election dates to the Sports Ministry.

The ministry has asked PCI to conduct the elections at the earliest to revoke the suspension and gave backing to hold the Para Shooting World Cup at the Karni Singh Range.

More than 500 pistol, rifle, and shotgun shooters from 52 countries are expected to compete in the prestigious tournament scheduled to take place in India for the first time.

However, it is going to be tough to conduct elections in the middle of the Para Shooting World Cup.