PCI president Devendra Jhajharia. File
| Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI
India will target 30 medals in the upcoming Paris Paralympics, 11 more than the country won in the last Games in Tokyo, new Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) president Devendra Jhajharia said on Saturday, just after he was elected to the top post.
India had won 19 medals (5 gold, 8 silver, 6 bronze) in the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021, including a javelin silver from Jhajharia himself.
“Our target for Paris Paralympics (August 28 to September 8) is to win many more medals than the 19 we won in Tokyo. Iss baar, tees paar (will aim for 30-plus medals),” Jhajharia said.
“This government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is giving a lot of emphasis to para sports and para athletes. We have done well in the 2016 Rio Paralympics and then we won 19 medals in Tokyo and we have shown that India is an up-and-coming country in para sports.” A medal count of 30 may take India to top-10.
Two-time Paralympics gold medallist Jhajharia was on Saturday elected unopposed as PCI president, succeeding another celebrated para athlete Deepa Malik.
The 42-year-old javelin thrower, who had won a gold medal each in the 2004 Athens and 2016 Rio Paralympics in the F46 disability category, was the only candidate in the fray for the top post.
He said the mission of the new dispensation under him will be “developing para sports in the 700 districts of the country”.
“We need to work different things, in small steps, there is no dearth of para athletes and no lack of facilities in India, what we need to do is good management.
“There are a lot of para athletes in the TOPS (Target Olympic Podium Scheme). We had Para National Games recently where the government spent about Rs 30 crore.” Jhajharia said he had never thought of occupying the top administrative post when he started his career more than two decades ago.
“I have toiled hard in the most difficult way and I have never thought of becoming PCI president,” he later told PTI separately.
“My mission is that, I have toiled hard to overcome difficulties in my life, I will now work hard so that our differently-abled athletes don’t have to face them,” said Jhajharia, who lost part of his left arm after coming in contact with an electric wire while climbing a tree in his hometown when he was eight years old.
“For the responsibility (of PCI president) I am getting, I want to congratulate the seven crore differently-abled people of India.” He said the PCI will pick talented para athletes from the Indian Para Open to be held later in March and give them proper training.
He also said that there should not be any problem if he also becomes a Member of Parliament after winning the Lok Sabha elections he is contesting from his hometown in Churu in Rajasthan on a BJP ticket.
Jhajharia also clinched a world championships gold in 2013 and a silver in 2015 (both F46 category) as well as a silver in the Asian Para Games in 2014.
He has many firsts to his name. He is the lone Padma Bhushan award winner (2022) among the para athletes, besides being the only Indian double Paralympics gold medallist.
He was awarded the Khel Ratna in 2017 and was earlier conferred with the Arjuna Award (2004) and Padma Shri (2012).