The Indian contingent of the Paris Paralympics on Thursday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence in New Delhi after their stellar performance.
The players returned back to India after their record-breaking performance in various games.
The Indian contingent won 29 medals, including seven golds, nine silvers, and 13 bronze medals, surpassing the previous best of 19 medals that was achieved in the Tokyo Games.
In a 43-second video shared by the sports ministry, the PM can be seen congratulating the medal winners before an interaction with them.
“We had discussions on a lot of issues. He spoke to us personally…I always wanted to meet PM Modi personally and now I got this opportunity. He asked about my children and my family. It is a really good feeling that the Prime Minister of the country is very well aware of our families,” Mona Agarwal.
Agarwal won Bronze Medal at Paralympic in Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 event.
Paralympic silver medallist Suhas Yathiraj who also met Modi, said, “Today, we got the opportunity to meet PM Modi. When we go to the Paralympics, we wait for two moments – one is when we get a medal and another is when we get to meet PM Modi after we come back to India and he encourages us.”
Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Raksha Nikhil Khadse, and Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) president Devendra Jhajharia were also present during the meeting.
Paralympic gold medallist Avani Lekhara gifted PM Modi a signed Indian jersey.
Since returning to the country, the Paralympians have been feted by the government with sports minister Mandaviya handing out ₹75 lakh to the gold-medallists, ₹50 lakh to the silver winners and ₹30 lakh to the athletes who bagged bronze in the Games, reported PTI.
