Government keeps a blind eye toward blind cricket

TRIVANDRUM: With the sudden pause in the government-allotted grant, falling apart is the dream of some specially enabled cricket enthusiasts. The blind cricket team depended fully on the government-allotted funds, says the cricket association for blinds in Kerala. The sudden halt to the funds without any hint has put the organization on the brink of being ineffective.

It was former Finance minister Thomas Isaac who initiated some serious effort into this issue, allotting a grant of 10 lakhs a year to the blind cricket organization. It was in 2016 time, that the funds started reaching the cricket association. Later on, the interminable pandemic put curtains on the funds. During the pandemic, the government endured a tough time escaping the financial tangles, but two years passed since the pandemic, and still, the government pays no heed to the concerns of some often neglected ones in society. A written plea from the organization to the finance minister and other highers in the government has reached nowhere.

Usually, the government funds were spent on giving special training for players selected from 12 schools across the state; the rest of the money goes to conducting tournaments to hone the skills of budding talents. The funds from the government reached the organization unhindered for four years. In 2018, the organization returned the money to CM’s relief fund to help the beleaguered ones from the flood that inundated Kerala. The finance ministry has asked the sports ministry for a report on this issue, but the wait goes on.