Namaskar!

My name is Rajat Mohan.

I work at the National Abilympic Association of India (NAI) as an Abilympics Leader, India.

I would like to tell you a little bit about Abilympics. People have misunderstandings and often confuse it with Paralympics or Olympics.

Paralympics and Olympics are related to sports.

Abilympics, on the other hand, is totally related to skills or skills/expertise of the hand, art and craft.

So we see completely different Skill sets here.

This is specially conducted for people with disabilities through NAI.

At the international level Abilympics competitions began in 1981, in Tokyo, initiated by the International Abilympic Federation of Japan.

India got associated with it in 2001, when we were given the opportunity to organize this international competition.

It was supposed to be held in 2003 and for that, NAI was established by the Government of India.

At the International level, the Abilympic competitions are organized once every four years.

So far, 10 International events have taken place.

The next Abilympics is going to be held in 2027 in Finland.

To select candidates for this event, we have made provisions for Regional and National competetions, through which we will search for talent from all over India.

For this purpose India has been divided into different zones - East, West, North, South, Central and Northeast.

We select talents from these regions. We prepare them, after which our delegation will represent India at the international level.

Our training is held at different levels, secondary, tertiary and primary.

In these trainings, we do an initial assessment, right when the participants register from different regions.

A basic assessment is done, to understand their skills, before they move on to the Regional level.

Prior to the National level, we give them proper training through online and offline modes.

When candidates get selected for the International competition, we train them as per the international standards.

Both online as well as offline training is provided.

Offline, we organize 15-day camps, at least for four months, for 15 days each month, before they represent India at the International level.

In the Finland International Abilympics, 43 skill categories have been selected this time, out of which we are looking for people representing 30 skills, from all over India.

We are doing it in two phases, selecting 15 skills in the first phase and then another 15 skills in the next phase of selection.

After that, our delegation will go to Finland to participate in 30 skill catogories.

In the recently conducted 10th International Abilympics competition which was organized in March 2023, in Metz, 13 of our participants, 13 children with disabilities participated in 12 skills and won seven medals.

This was a stellar representation of India at the international level after many years.

In a total of 27 countries, India stood at the 7th position in the overall medal’s tally.

We have some criteria and a process through which people with disabilities can participate in The Abilympics.

We provide a form on our website, through which they can register themselves online.

They must fulfill certain basic criteria in order to participate in Abilympics.

For example, they should be above 18 years of age.

There are no requirements for educational qualifications for this.

They should have a proper Disability Certificate which should be from a certified medical institute.

Apart from this, they also have to give us their time, because we provide many types of training and support systems to them.

So they have to set aside time to participate in these training sessions, if they are working in any company or studying in any institute.

We invite children from various sources to participate in this.

To participate in this competition, one does not have to pay any fee.

These competitions are totally free of cost.

And whatever materials, goods or facilities are to be provided, are provided through the National Abilympic Association.

Children who are or have been the winners, also get many benefits from participating in these competitions.

Firstly, they get international exposure, their skills improve.

Apart from this, an important outcome of this is that many of them have got good jobs while many people got promoted after winning medals.

So, the Abilympics competitions plays a very important role in their life.