The Indian Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has announced that athletes winning gold medals at the Rio 2016 Paralympics will receive the same cash prize from the government as Olympic medallists.
This means that any Indian Paralympian winning a gold medal at Rio will receive Rs. 45 lakh.
Image Source: Twitter
Additionally, para-athletes who win silver and bronze will be awarded Rs. 50 lakh and Rs. 30 lakh respectively. These announcements were made on the official Twitter handle of the Sports Ministry.
Gold medalists of #Paralympic Games are entitled to Rs 75 Lacs, Silver Rs 50 Lacs & Bronze Rs 30 Lacs as cash award from MYAS. (1/2)
— Dept of Sports MYAS (@IndiaSports) September 6, 2016
The decision reiterates the fact that Paralympians should be treated with the same amount of respect and admiration as other Olympians. The incentive might also inspire other differently-abled athletes to take up sports professionally.
This cash award to the #Paralympic medalists is at par with medalists of #Olympics. (2/2)
— Dept of Sports MYAS (@IndiaSports) September 6, 2016
India has sent 19 athletes to the Paralympics this year. Devendra Jhajharia, a javelin thrower who won the gold medal at Athens in 2004 is also a part of the contingent. The other athletes include:
Mariyappan Thangavelu (high jump), Varun Singh Bhati (high jump), Pooja (archery), Sharad Kumar (high jump), Rampal Chahar (high jump), Sundar Singh Gurjar (javelin throw), Devendra Jhajaria (javelin throw), Rinku (javelin throw), Narender Ranbir (javelin throw), Sandeep (javelin throw), Amit Kumar Saroha (club throw), Deepa Malik (shot put), Dharambir (club throw), Ankur Dhama (1500 metres), Basha Farman (powerlifting), Suyash Narayan Jadhav (swimming), Naresh Kumar Sharma (shooting).
Know more about the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, here.
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