As three sportsmen from Rajasthan created history in Paralympics in Tokyo on Monday, the state government announced a cash reward of Rs 3 crore for Avani Lakhera who won gold medal in rifle shooting, Rs 2 crore for Devendra Jhajhadiya from Churu who won silver in javelin throw and Rs 1 crore for Sundar Singh Gurjar who won bronze men’s javelin throw event.
All three of them are serving as Assistant Conservator Forest (ACF) in the forest department.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot congratulated all three of them.
In his tweet, he announced prize money for athletes of Rajasthan and said that “We are proud of state sportsmen who brought name and fame to the nation and the state.
40 years old Jhajharia is a three-time Paralympic medalist. He won a Silver medal in Javelin-F46 on Monday. Earlier, he had won Gold medals in 2004 Athens Games and Rio 2016.
He is the first Indian to have won medals three times.
Jhajharia’s wife Manju said that he promised to make a hat-trick and return.
He was eight-year-old when he came in contact with a high tension line and hence his hand had to be amputated, she said.
Also Sundar Singh Gurjar from Karauli district who won bronze got his left hand amputated when a tin shed fell on him following a strong storm in 2016.
Avani, who won gold, met with an accident in 2012 when her spinal cord was damaged. However, another gold medallist Abhinav Bindra’s biography and her parents’ motivation pushed her to attain new heights.