Devendra Jhajharia Becomes New President of Paralympic Committee of India

Devendra Jhajharia, a two-time Paralympic gold medalist, has been elected as the new President of the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI). He succeeds another renowned para-athlete, Deepa Malik.

Highlights:

• Devendra Jhajharia, a javelin thrower, won gold medals in the 2004 Athens and 2016 Rio Paralympics in the F46 disability category.
• He was the only candidate for the post of PCI president.
• All the new office bearers were elected unopposed.
• Jhajharia is also fighting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket from Churu, Rajasthan.

New Office Bearers

• Vice Presidents: R. Chandrashekhar and Satya Prakash Sangwan
• Secretary General: Jayawant Hammanawar
• Treasurer: Sunil Pradhan
• Joint Secretaries: Lalit Thakur and T. Diwakara
• Executive Committee Members: 5 members elected

Devendra Jhajharia’s Achievements

• Silver medal in the Tokyo Paralympics 2021
• World Championships gold in 2013 and silver in 2015
• Silver in the Asian Para Games 2014
• First Indian para-athlete to receive the Padma Bhushan (2022)
• Only Indian double Paralympics gold medalist
• Awarded Khel Ratna in 2017, Arjuna Award (2004), and Padma Shri (2012)

The PCI elections were held after the sports ministry had earlier suspended the PCI for not holding elections on time. The suspension was revoked on March 5 after the election process was initiated.

Important takeaways for all Competitive Exams

• President of the Paralympic Committee of India Founded: 7 August 1994;
• President of the Paralympic Committee of India HQ: New Delhi, Delhi.