The Sports Minister, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya met Indian Paralympics medallists who returned from the Paris Paralympics on Tuesday. He also made major announcements for the athletes cash prizes stating the para sports in India is here to stay and the government will help in its growth.
The case has been different in India where the Government announced ₹75 lakhs for every Gold medal winner – ₹50 lakh for silver medalists – ₹30 lakh for the bronze medalists. Gold and silver medalists of the mixed team event earned ₹22.5L as the cash award each. Indeed, this very sanguine reward structure, serves as a form of appreciation in paper, from the government for the accomplishments which were far more than the expected worth of the athletes, and it is clear that the positivity of this form of venting has not remained untouched towards the paraplegic sports.
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Apart from being useful as a monetary motivation for the further achievements, the considerable cash awards are also the pride of the nation who has admiration for the athletes who have put in hard work and commitment. These rewards serve as a strong acknowledgment of the potential and resilience of the Indian Paralympic team and will encourage younger generations to dream of an active participation in parasports in them would be different values.
The Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Mandaviya, laid stress on the efforts made by the government through its TOPS in advancing para sports in India. It was also enumerated that the number of medals Indian athletes will win in the Paralympics has substantially been increasing which rose from 19 in that of Tokyo 2021 to 29 in that of Paris 2024. The said accomplishment is due to the productive efforts of the athletes and proper investments made by the government in parasports.
Any fêting characterisation in respect to this event is due to 17 medal winners including well-known personalities like Navdeep Singh, Dharambir Singh, Sumit Antil, Praveen Kumar, Yogesh Kathuniya, Nishad Kumar, Sharad Kumar, Ajeet Singh, Sachin Khilari, Preeti Pal, Mariyappan Thangavelu, Hokato Sema, Sundar Singh Gurjar, Simran Sharma, Harvinder Singh, Sheetal Devi, and Kapil Parmar.
Out of the medalists, special praise went to Navdeep Singh and Sumit Antil for obvious reasons. Navdeep Singh won India’s seventh gold medal in javelin, while Sumit Antil not only won two gold medals but also rewritten Asian Games history. They both thanked their coach and family members for being supportive throughout and after every game.
The felicitation ceremony was a happy event which honored the Indian paralympics team’s achievements as well as recognised the government’s attempts to promote para sports in the nation. The commendation received by the athletes was for their exceptional achievements and this was owed to how para sports were well supported by the government. Looking forward to the 2028 Games, they are assured of more opportunities to receive support and motivation from both the government and the country in general and this will help them reach for greater heights in the coming years.