New Delhi: Rio Paralympics medal winners are all set to be presented a cash reward of Rs. 90 lakh by the Centre.
While Gold medal winners, paralympic high jumper Mariyappan Thangavelu and javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia will be rewarded Rs. 30 lakh each, silver medallist in shotput Deepa Malik will get Rs. 20 lakh and high jumper Varun Singh Bhati, who won a bronze medal at the Rio games, will be given Rs. 10 lakh. The cash reward will be given by Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot under the Awareness Generation and Publicity (AGP) scheme.
“Indian para-athletes bagged impressive four medals at the Rio Paralympics 2016 and made history. The success of para athletes has made India proud. The department has decided to give a cash prize of total Rs. 90 lakh to the medal winners,” Gehlot said.
India’s performance at Rio Paralympics 2016 was their best-ever performance in Paralympics history with Thangavelu making a leap of 1.89 metres to bag the gold medal while Mr Bhati jumped his personal best of 1.86 m to finish third and won bronze.
Jhajharia clinched gold in javelin throw while Malik bagged silver in short put and became the first Indian women to win a medal at the Paralympics games.
