Meerut: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath felicitated 17 players who won 19 medals for India in Paralympic Games at ‘Tokyo 2020’ and six Para players from Uttar Pradesh at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Agricultural University, Modipuram on Thursday.
A total of 933 para players from all the districts of the state reached Meerut on Wednesday to attend the award ceremony, out of which 840 were males and 93 were females. There were 44 players for whom wheelchairs were specially arranged at the venue.
In his address, Yogi Adityanath said Meerut is globally known for the production of sports accessories. So the state government has taken the decision to open a sports university here, the work of which will be started soon.
He said in the prize money, two crores were awarded to gold medalists, 1.5 crores to silver medalists, one crore to the Bronze medalists, and 25 lakhs to the contestants. Yogi said if sports or any other work is done well, then his government will not delay in honouring the talent. Appreciating the corona management, Noida District Magistrate Suhas LY announced that the state government has given five increments to Suhas, which is a record.
State Sports Minister Upendra Tiwari said for the last 73 years, the demand for para players to be respected is now being fulfilled. He informed that a wrestling academy was established in the state. Apart from this, arrangements for sports infrastructure have also been made in all 75 districts and the grant amount has been increased from Rs 5 lakhs to Rs 25 lakhs.
Squares were decorated from place to place for the grand welcome of para players. Apart from this, floral showers were also done by the school children along with ‘band bajas’ to increase the enthusiasm of the athletes.
Senior Superintendent of Police Prabhakar Choudhary informed that due to the landing issues with the helicopter, Chief Minister reached the venue by road via Delhi Meerut Expressway. Due to this, the program got delayed.
