Taking inspiration from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s resolve to encourage athletes and promote sports in the country, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath honoured athletes who won medals in Tokyo Paralympics.
During the mega event held at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology in Meerut, the chief minister said, “Despite their making the state and the country proud at national and international competitions, none of the previous governments thought of honouring the specially-abled players. Each medalist and participant has made the country proud which is why we are felicitating players who belong to other states as well.”
The state government presented Rs 6 crore for gold, Rs 4 crore for silver, and Rs 2 crore for bronze medals to the winners who belonged to UP while medalists from other states were given Rs 2 crore for gold, Rs 1.5 crore for silver and Rs 1 crore for bronze.
Two UP players, Suhas LY (para-badminton) and Pravin Kumar (para-jumping) bagged silver medals in the paralympics and were given Rs 4 crore each.
The remaining six participants from Uttar Pradesh – Varun Singh Bhati of Gautam Buddha Nagar (para-athletics), Ajit Singh of Etawah (para-athletics), Deepender Singh of Sambhal (para-shooting), Akash of Baghpat (para-shooting), Vivek Chikara of Meerut (para-archery), and Jyoti of Muzaffarnagar (para-archery) -- received Rs 25 lakh each. A total of 17 medalists from across the country, including two from UP, received the total prize money of Rs 31 crore.
Lauding the struggle and sustained efforts of the athletes who won medals in the Tokyo Paralympics, the chief minister hailed their spirit as an inspiration for all. “Tokyo Paralympics athletes have proved that nothing can stop you if you are determined. Our athletes never let their physical disabilities stop them, instead they made it their strength,” he said.
He said this was India’s best performance as the country won 19 medals.
“The talented players of our state were deprived of adequate resources for a long time, however, our government is leaving no stone unturned to provide all necessary assets to the sportspersons to promote sports activities for them to shine nationally and internationally,” he said.
He further said that in the last four and a half years, steps were taken to develop facilities for the players within the state as a result of which UP now had 71 stadiums, two mini stadiums, 38 swimming pools, one international (all-weather) swimming pool, an international cricket stadium, 11 synthetic hockey stadiums, running tracks, shooting range, synthetic tennis courts, basketball court, wrestling halls, and 11 weightlifting halls.
Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Singh Thakur expressed gratitude to the chief minister for not only felicitating players from Uttar Pradesh but also from other states.
“The Uttar Pradesh government has contributed majorly towards the promotion of sports. The sports university coming up in Meerut will not only foster sports culture in UP but will also prove to be a boon for the athletes and sportspersons all around the country,” he said, and added, “I am sure that in future UP will give more players to the country.”
Sportspersons from outside UP felicitated at the event are; Gold medalists: Avani Lekhara (shooting-Rajasthan), Sumit Antil (javelin throw-Haryana), Manish Narwal (shooting-Haryana), Pramod Bhagat (badminton-Odisha), Krishna Nagar (badminton-Rajasthan); Silver medalists: Bhavana Patel (table tennis-Gujarat), Nishad Kumar (high jump-Himachal Pradesh), Devendra Jhajaria (javelin throw-Rajasthan), Yogesh Kathunia (discus throw-Haryana), Mariyappan Thangavelu (high jump-TN), Singhraj Adhana (shooting-Haryana); Bronze medalists: Sundar Singh Gurjar (javelin throw-Rajasthan), Sharad Kumar (high jump-Bihar), Harvinder Singh (archery-Haryana) and Manoj Sarkar (badminton-Uttarakhand).
In addition, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also announced a monetary reward of Rs 10 lakh each to the coaches that accompanied the players to the Tokyo Paralympic Games.
