The Times of India has revealed a news regarding the denied access of the Indian contingent for the Asian Para Games to enter the Athletes Village in Jakarta on Monday (01/10). Fortunately, it just happened only for a few hours because the accommodation fee had not yet been paid on time.
Top officials of Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) claimed, the amount of money intended to pay the accommodation fee had not been released by the Sports Ministry. The amount itself should be as much as US$2.5 lakhs. As the response, PCI officials then gave an undertaking that the payment process will be completely paid by October 4, and right after the PCI officials ensured the committee, the athletes were allowed to enter the Athletes Village.
Vice President of PCI Gursharan Singh who also came to accompany the contingent admitted that the accommodation procedure for Asian Para Games is different from that of Asian Games. For Asian Para Games, the participating teams are required to pay for fees such as registration, accommodation, competition, and etc.
“Each country will have to pay for accommodation of its athletes at the Games Village, pay competition and registration fee, etc. So, we have to pay around USD 2.5 lakh for the contingent of around 300. We came here without the funds, and we had problems in going into the Games Village,” said Gursharan told Press Trust of India (PTI) from Jakarta.
“We had to give an undertaking that we will pay the amount by October 4. If we do not make the payment, we may be told to vacate our accommodation at the Games Village,” Gursharan continued.
In contrast to the statement of Gusharan, the Sport Ministry reacted differently. Ministry of Youth and Sport Secretary Rahul Bhatnagar told PTI that the required amount of money to pay the accommodation had been transferred.
“We have transferred the funds (on Monday) and the issue sorted now. The para athletes are now inside the Games Village,” Bhatnagar told PTI to clarify.
When Gusharan was asked why the contingent left for Jakarta without having paid the fees, he confirmed, “Every Para-games, the government pays these funds but this time, it is a bit late. We left India for Indonesia without the sanction of funds hoping that it will be done while we are on way. But it is sorted now.”