By Business India Editorial

In April 2016 IndusInd For Sports was formed as a vertical within the bank, dedicated to the development of sporting capability in India and to integrate sport into the DNA and the minds of its employees.

For the IndusInd Para Champions Programme, the bank has tied up with the GoSports Foundation, and for the Blind Cricket Prgramme with CABI (Cricket Association for the Blind in India) to promote the Indian Blind Cricket Team consisting of 26 players.

The Blind Cricket team gets logistical support as they travel across the country to share their success stories and encourage other visually-impaired youngsters to take up the sport.

The Para athletes supported by IndusInd Bank have won three medals at the Rio Paralympics. The Indian Blind Cricket Team won the recent T20 World Cup 2017 hosted by India in February earlier this year.

The bank has committed to the existing programmes till 2019 and plans to build on this in an engaged manner. It also aims to advocate providing sporting facilities for the differently-abled in schools and colleges.

Sport provides a powerful platform for differently-abled individuals to showcase their abilities. It raises awareness of the prevalent disability conditions in society, as also offers possible livelihood opportunities and empowers lives. The ultimate aim is to improve the sports narrative in India.

Sony has partnered with GoSports Foundation, extending support to para-athletes across India to cover their training, travel and competition needs. The support is a catalyst in their performance and in their effort to fight the social stigma associated with their disability. Apart from monetary support, the company also uses the power of its media channels to create awareness about Paralympic sports and enable empowerment through sport for the differently-abled in India.

Three supported athletes won gold, silver and bronze medals at the Rio Paralympics 2016 for India. There was an increase in visibility for the Paralympic games as well the athletes.

In 2016, in partnership with Slum Soccer, the National Inclusion Cup was held in Mumbai for the first time and had teams from Maharashtra, West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Vidharbha, Orissa, Gujarat, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttar Pradesh participating in the 5 day tournament.

The National Inclusion Cup provides a platform to showcase sporting excellence among the underprivileged youth (both boys and girls) whose talent would otherwise remain unidentified, unsupported and thus wasted. This tournament also provides value in terms of participation and inclusion.

The winners were declared after competing amongst 450 participants. Selected players represent India at a global level at the Homeless World Cup in Oslo, Norway this year, where 63 teams meet every year for the World Championship. This tournament helped bring positive transformation, engage youth from marginalised sections in constructive activities and help create brand ambassadors of social change, equality and inclusion. In addition to the National Inclusion Cup, Sony also supports the Slum Soccer team with other projects such as EduKick and Game Changers, which are focussed on education via football and societal improvement projects.