Orissa’s child marathoner Budhia Singh and his coach Biranchi Das on Thursday announced that they would defy the order issued by government appointed Child Welfare Committee (CWC) banning their proposed Bhubaneswar-Kolkata walk.
The development has signalled a fresh round of showdown between both the parties. “The CWC does not have the legal authority to impose the ban. Therefore we have decided to go ahead with the proposed walk on June 6”, Mr Das told a media conference here in presence of Budhia, his mother Sukanti Singh and the lawyer of the child marathoner Bibhu Prasad Tripahty. However, Mr Das said, Budhia would not walk the entire 500 km stretch but would take part in the walk selectively near the towns the Padayatra would pass through, which will come around 100 kms.
The walk is scheduled to touch 22 towns before it reaches Kolkata in eleven days. “Because of the heat wave conditions we have decided that Budhia would walk only when the Padayatra would reach the town areas”, Mr Das said.
He further informed that Budhia Singh Trust would soon move the court of law against the ban order. Meanwhile, the chairman of the CWC, R S Mishra said that the law would take its own course.
“The CWC is a statutory body and whoever defy its orders would face action as per the law,” Mr Mishra said.