After Paraolympians make their mark at Rio, Govt announces 90 lakh cash reward

The Centre today announced a total cash reward of Rs 90 lakh for the medal winners of Rio Paralympics. The Rio Paralympics 2016 was held at Rio de Janeiro from September 7-18. Organised once every four years, Paralympics is curated for athletes who suffer from various disabilities. This year, we saw as many as 4,300 athletes competing for medals in 23 disciplines. India has sent its largest delegation to the Rio 2016 Olympics, but Paralympics will also be represented by 19 athletes.

In order to promote equality in sports, the event marks its presence with high energy and helps all the athletes enhance their skill on an international podium. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has recognised over 10 categories of impairment, in muscle power, impaired passive range of movement, limb deficiency, leg length difference, short stature, hypertonia, ataxia, athetosis, vision impairment and intellectual impairment.

Gold medal winners -- paralympic high jumper Mariyappan Thangavelu and javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia -- will be rewarded with Rs 30 lakh each while Deepa Malik, who won silver medal in shotput, 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, an official statement said.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.

Also read : Away from Olympics limelight, another army of gritty sportspersons sweat away for India at Rio Paralympics

It was India's best-ever performance in Paralympics history with Thangavelu making a leap of 1.89 metres to bag the gold medal while 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.