Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with Asian Para Games 2018 medallists on Tuesday.
A strong Indian contingent won 72 medals – including 15 gold, 24 silver and 33 bronze – in the seven-day sporting event held at Jakarta, Indonesia. It was India's biggest ever medal haul in the history of the Games.
Referring to individual winners, he said the country was proud of their achievement.
"It was a delight to interact with the medal winners of the Asian Para Games held in Jakarta recently," he tweeted posting a series of pictures of the athletes.
India sent it's largest ever contingent of 190 athletes for the Games. India finished ninth in the final medal tally.
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Majority of India's medals came from para-athletics (track and field), contributing 36 medals, including seven golds.
During a felicitation function, the gold medal winners were given a cash award of Rs 30 lakh each, while silver and bronze medallists took home Rs 20 lakh and Rs 10 lakh respectively.
Present on the occasion were Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Sports Secretary Rahul Bhatnagar and Sports India (erstwhile Sports Authority of India) Director General Neelam Kapur among others.
Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore congratulated the medal winners and thanked them for making the country proud.
"You guys are true icons of the country. This journey was not easy because you guys have overcome many obstacles in life. Many might have given up but you guys didn't. It proves your self-determination. Many people might have doubted your abilities but today you have proved them wrong," he said.
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Rathore stressed that the para-athletes have full support from the government, which doesn't differentiate between them and the able bodies sportspersons.
"The Sports Ministry and the government is fully with you guys. We have set up a Centre of Excellence in a new stadium at Gandhinagar exclusively for you guys," he informed.
The Sports Minister reminded the para-athletes now to focus on 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
In the last edition of the Asian Para Games, India won 33 medals, including 3 gold, 14 silver and 16 bronze medals.
(With PTI inputs)
