In a great motivational move and step forward, the Indian Ministry for Sports and Youth Affairs has announced that athletes who win gold medals at 2016 Rio Paralympics will get the same rewards as Olympic medalists. The Department of Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs made this announcement through its official account on microblogging site Twitter. To put things in perspective, any athlete who wins a gold medal at 2016 Rio Paralympics will get prize money of INR 75 lacs.
Furthermore, para-athletes who win silver and bronze will be entitled to INR 50 lacs and INR 30 lacs, respectively. The Sports Ministry also categorically stated that these cash rewards are the same as the prize money entitled to athletes who won medals at 2016 Rio Olympics, thereby putting Paralympians at par with Olympians. This seems to be an excellent move in order to motivate and inspire more differently-abled people to take up sports and pursue them professionally.
The Indian Sports Ministry, led by Sports Minister Vijay Goel, is looking to motivate people across the country to take up sports and this move of putting para-athletes on par with Olympians could go a long way in doing that.
India has sent a 19-member contingent to the 2016 Rio Paralympics including 2004 Athens Gold Medalist Devendra Jhajharia, who is a javelin thrower, along with others who are in the top section of world rankings. The 2016 Rio Olympics saw India win two medals in the form of PV Sindhu (Silver in Women’s Singles Badminton) and Sakshi Malik (Bronze in Women’s Freestyle Wrestling). At the 2016 Paralympics, India will be competing in events like Archery, High Jump, Javelin Throw, Shot put, Shooting and Swimming.
With so many top performers in India’s 2016 Rio Paralympics contingent, there is a good chance that we can match, or even surpass, the tally of two medals, which is going to be one of the biggest achievements in Indian sporting history. The 2016 Summer Paralympics will kick off on September 7th with the opening ceremony and are going to end on 18th September.
