The Asian Age:Surbhi Tanodn:Wednesday, January 18, 2012.
Amidst the uproar over corruption in the Parliament and on the streets, there are many unknown silent warriors who are vigilantly taking the cause forward. Pradeep Raj, a disabled rights activist and sportsperson, is one of the crusaders against corruption.
Recipient of the Helen Keller Award in the year 2011 for the category of Role model for Disabled Person, Pradeep is working hard to bring about transparency and accountability in Paralympics Committee of India (PCI), the apex body for Para-sports in India.
Using Right to Information as a weapon against the corrupt, Pradeep has filed over 15 RTIs to expose corruption in PCI. Pradeep, who is a table-tennis player himself, says “My first encounter with mismanagement in sports and no accessibility for disabled players was at ‘I WAS World Games’ held in Bengaluru in 2009. I decided to investigate the matter and filed my first RTI in December 2009. Some of my initial RTIs got shocking replies, which exposed corruption in the sports body.”
Some of his RTIs revealed that PCI in the year 2006-2007, charged disabled players a sum of over `40,000 as registration fees while at the time it was receiving grants from the government for the same reason. He further adds, “corruption exposed by his RTIs led to the derecognition of Paralympics Committee in 2011.” His other achievements have been that he represented India at a UN convention; Disabled People International (Asia-Pacific).
He also founded Association for Disabled People in 2002 to promote sports amongst disabled in Delhi. There could be many ways of empowering disabled people, so when asked why he chose sports as a medium, he mentions, “Since childhood, I was passionate about sports. And, when disabled people play sports it gives them confidence and hope.”
He further explains that his organisation is also involved in other activist movements. He says “We protested twice against the draft of Right to Education bill in which children with disability were not included. After our protest government had to include them and then the bill was passed by Parliament.”
The road ahead for Pradeep is difficult as he has many obstacles on the way, but with his dedication towards the cause we hope he succeeds.
Recipient of the Helen Keller Award in the year 2011 for the category of Role model for Disabled Person, Pradeep is working hard to bring about transparency and accountability in Paralympics Committee of India (PCI), the apex body for Para-sports in India.
Using Right to Information as a weapon against the corrupt, Pradeep has filed over 15 RTIs to expose corruption in PCI. Pradeep, who is a table-tennis player himself, says “My first encounter with mismanagement in sports and no accessibility for disabled players was at ‘I WAS World Games’ held in Bengaluru in 2009. I decided to investigate the matter and filed my first RTI in December 2009. Some of my initial RTIs got shocking replies, which exposed corruption in the sports body.”
Some of his RTIs revealed that PCI in the year 2006-2007, charged disabled players a sum of over `40,000 as registration fees while at the time it was receiving grants from the government for the same reason. He further adds, “corruption exposed by his RTIs led to the derecognition of Paralympics Committee in 2011.” His other achievements have been that he represented India at a UN convention; Disabled People International (Asia-Pacific).
He also founded Association for Disabled People in 2002 to promote sports amongst disabled in Delhi. There could be many ways of empowering disabled people, so when asked why he chose sports as a medium, he mentions, “Since childhood, I was passionate about sports. And, when disabled people play sports it gives them confidence and hope.”
He further explains that his organisation is also involved in other activist movements. He says “We protested twice against the draft of Right to Education bill in which children with disability were not included. After our protest government had to include them and then the bill was passed by Parliament.”
The road ahead for Pradeep is difficult as he has many obstacles on the way, but with his dedication towards the cause we hope he succeeds.
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