Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Virendra Kumar and Minister of State Ramdas Athawale on Friday felicitated the Tokyo Paralympics medalists in Delhi. 19 medal winners from India are felicitated in the event and awarded cash prizes of Rs 10 lakh to Gold Medalists while Rs 7 lakh and 5 lakh to Silver Medalists and Bronze Medalists respectively.
Speaking in the event Union Minister Virendra Kumar Congratulates all the medal winners and thanks to President of Indian Paralympic Committee Deepa Malik and Chief para Athletics Coach Satyanarayana for their support and encouragement to the Indian athletes.
‘’Last year, we had sent 19 participants and had won 4 medals. This year, we sent 54 participants and won 19 medals. This shows that our efforts have been successful and we will continue our efforts to double these medals in the next Paralympics,’’ Kumar said.
Kumar also said that this was the first time the Paralympics winners were felicitated with a cash prize. He further announced that the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is going to establish a sports stadium for specially-abled sportspersons in Gwalior that will cost around Rs 175 crore and will have sports and hostel facilities for the athletes. The project will be completed by June 15, 2022, he added.
Indian athlete created history in Tokyo Paralympics 2020 by winning the highest number of medals in a single session of the Paralympic Games. India won 5 Gold medals, 8 Silver medals and 6 Bronze medals in the Tokyo Paralympics.
