Kothagudem: Govt urged to support Paralympic athletes
Kothagudem: An association of persons with disabilities has appealed to the governments of two Telugu States to give a cash prize of Rs 2 crore to each athlete who won medals in the Tokyo Paralympics.
The Telangana Vibhinna Pratibhavantula Sangham (TVPS) organised a celebration here on Tuesday and cut a cake marking the winning of 19 medals in the Paralympics by Indian athletes.
The Sangham founding president and VJAC chairman Sathish Gundapuneni said winning of medals which Bhavina Patel started for India at the Paralympics with a historic silver in the women’s individual table tennis continued to the very last day of the event.
The Indian athletes who scripted a best ever performance in Paralympics stood as testimony to true sportsmanship and gave the world a fantastic message that they mentally strong though they had physical disabilities, he said adding that they were the real inspiration for all Indians.
With a total of 19 medals that includes 5 gold, 8 silver, 6 bronze, the Indian Paralympics contingent made India ranked 24th in the medals tally. The Indian team won 4 medals at the Rio Games five years ago and now performed almost five times better than that.
Sathish lamented that the attention paid to para-athletes compared to regular athletes was little and training facilities provided to them were also limited. But para-athletes raising above hardships of life proved that they were the real winners.
Yet Central government and State governments which compete in announcing incentives to regular athletes show little or no concern towards para-athletes. The State and Central governments have to learn the importance of para sports and encourage the athletes.
VJAC district convener Kati Nageswara Rao, TVPS vice presidents Qader Baba, members Chand Pasha, Veeranna, Itech Plus teachers Divya, Laxminarayana, students and others participated in the event.
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