Demystifying India’s Paralympic movement: overview of legislation, sport governance and ground realities

Abstract

With over three decades of participation in the Paralympic Games, twelve medalists and eighty-three Paralympians who have represented India, today the country’s improving success at each Paralympic event cannot be ignored. With a new disability rights law passed in 2016, athletes with disabilities are just beginning to be recognized in India as citizens who can raise the country’s profile in the sporting world. From India, there is nil research in Paralympic sport, and journalistic discourse is often focused on inspirational story reporting. Research on sport governance within this ecosystem will bring to discussion what is the governance framework that exists within the Paralympic world of newly developing countries like India. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of sport governance in India’s Paralympic movement, the country’s legislation concerning the sporting rights of persons with disabilities (PwD), and to further highlight potential gaps that plague India’s Paralympic system from further developments. Collaborative efforts between the International Paralympic Committee and the Indian Government, increased efforts to train technical officials in India and emphasis on structuring state level governance standards are some of the recommendations from this research to sustain the Paralympic movement in India.