Social justice minister felicitates all 54 para-athletes who participated in Tokyo Paralympics

Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Virendra Kumar on Friday felicitated all 54 Indian para-athletes who participated in the Tokyo Paralympics and announced cash rewards of up to Rs 10 lakh for medal winners.

Paralympians, who won a gold medal in the Tokyo Games, will receive a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh each, while those who bagged silver will get a cash reward of Rs 8 lakh each. Para-athletes, who won the bronze medal, will be given a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh each.

The award money will be transferred directly to the bank accounts of the medal winners.

The minister also felicitated all the coaches of Indian Paralympians at a function organised by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.

Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale joined Kumar in felicitating the Indian contingent of para-athletes and their coaches.

''After watching your (Indian para-athletes) performance in the Tokyo Paralympics, we had a discussion in our department and decided to organise this event to felicitate you and give a cash award to the medal winners from this year. Award money will be transferred to your (bank) account,'' Kumar said while addressing the event.

He said Indian para-athletes put up their best show at the Tokyo Paralympics and made the country proud by winning five gold, eight silver and six bronze with their outstanding performance.

''You have made the country proud with your outstanding performance. You have given a new identity to our country,'' Kumar said while praising the players.

The minister said their performance in the Tokyo Paralympics will inspire many and hoped that the Indian contingent of Paralympians will win more medals in the next Paralympics.

''A total of 19 para-athletes had participated in the last Paralympics from India and they brought four medals. This time, 54 para-athletes participated in Paralympics and bagged 19 medals… Please double our medal tally in the next Paralympics,'' Kumar said, exhorting the players to put up a much better show in the next international sporting event.

The minister said a Centre for Disability Sports is being set up in Gwalior at an estimated cost of Rs 175 crore for the para-athletes.

''Our target is to complete the construction of the stadium, hostels and other facilities by June 15 next year,'' he said.

The Office bearers of the Indian Paralympic Committee, including its chief patron Avinash Rai Khanna, president Deepa Malik, secretary-general Gursharan Singh, and Secretary of the department of empowerment of persons with disabilities Anjali Bhawra, were present at the event among other dignitaries.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)