It is the role of the NPC to select which athletes will represent their country although the Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) director general, M Wali Ullah, is adamant they have until February.

"We've written a letter to the Youth and Sports Ministry to form the committee so that [the] registration process can be completed," he said.

"But we're yet to get any response from them."

Bangladesh made its debut at the Paralympics in Athens in 2004 when they sent a single athlete, Mokshud Mokshud, who competed in the 400 metres in the T46 category.

At Beijing in 2008, the country once more had a single representative, Abdul Quader Suman.

The visually-impaired sprinter ran the men's 100m sprint in the T12 category, and recorded 16.63sec, the slowest time in the competition.

Earlier this month the British Embassy in Dhaka organsied a "walkathlon" with the BOA and local disability groups to mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities

The London 2012 Paralympic Games are scheduled to begin on August 29.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]