Sports meet for differently abled gets underway

A total of 600 differently-abled students from Government aided special schools and colleges across the 13 districts participated in State level sports meet held at Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation Stadium here on Tuesday.

Vijayawada Central Legislator Bonda Umamaheswara Rao declared open the two-day sports meet organized by the Department for Welfare of Disabled and Senior Citizens to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3.

In spite of various disabilities, all the children, who turned up at the stadium, were full of competitive spirit and participated in the events with gusto. Differently abled students with different levels of disability competed in events like running race, shot put and javelin throw, cycling (three-wheeler), 50 and 100 meter running race.

Speaking after the inauguration, Umamaheswara Rao exhorted that Sports are essential to boost confidence in differently abled persons and society has a responsibility to ensure their well-being. He called upon all the disabled students to make best use of the schemes implemented by the State Government to get success in their lives.

AP Disabled Welfare Corporation chairman G Koteswara Rao, Department for Welfare of Disabled and Senior Citizens, Hyderabad assistant commissioner AVD Narayana Rao and other officials were also present.