Mumbai: State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender, to support para-sports and individuals’ love for basketball, has contributed Rs. 93 lakhs to Project Mumbai – an NGO dedicated to supporting and promoting social initiatives. SBI as the initiative partner will also donate 24 wheelchairs to support the players and bring forward the concept ‘Wheelchair Basketball’.
The initiative will help build a better infrastructure with quality wheelchairs, healthcare facilities like physiotherapy, and other expert consultations. The aim is to provide competitive training and promote tournaments that encourage willing players and support their dreams of national representation. The project will fuel the aspirations and uplift the para-players of the country.
The initiative will curate extensive tours, camps, and matches where families can come and see the players in action. The aim is to build a platform that gives these para-players varied opportunities. These include but are not limited to career counseling, ways to overcome challenges, winning strategies, discussion on skill development, and employment. These events will also have stalls for expert counseling, career guidance, and mental health to enable the para-players.
The larger goal is to publicize wheelchair basketball to ensure that the players get commercial endorsements and opportunities. The goal is to garner maximum attention, spread awareness about the sport, and highlight the difficulties the para-players face to boost their morale and promote the sport in the nation.
Since most of the infrastructure and urban planning are devoid of ease of accessibility for specially-abled; with this initiative spread across different parts of Mumbai and Maharashtra, the thought is to compel institutions to build infrastructure that is accessible for the specially-abled, everywhere.
On the occasion, B. Raghavendra Rao, Dy. Managing Director (CAG), SBI said, “We are humbled to partner with Project Mumbai in an initiative that will embolden para-players and bring a mindset shift in the society at large on how they view “Wheelchair Basketball”. With this initiative, we aim to boost the confidence of parents and family members to induct their wards for this activity. We will do our best to promote para-sport for the nation and urge India Inc. to do their best to support the para-players”
