Telangana govt felicitates Deepthi Jeevanji, announces Rs 1 crore cash, job, land

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy announced a cash prize of Rs 1 crore, a 500-yard plot in Warangal, and a Group 2 job in the state government for Paralympics 2024 bronze medallist Deepthi Jeevanji.

He also announced a Rs 10 lakh cash prize for her coach, N Ramesh, during a felicitation ceremony on Saturday.

Deepthi won the bronze medal in the women's 400m T20 event on her Paralympics debut in Paris.

"Deepti Jeevanji, the young athlete who won a bronze medal in the Paralympics and brought glory to Telangana, was met with courtesy," CM Reddy announced on X.

"Apart from congratulating her on this occasion, I ordered the officials to take steps to give the Group-2 job, Rs one crore cash prize, 500 yards' land in Warangal and Rs.10 lakhs to the coach on behalf of the state government," he added.

Deepthi won the bronze medal finishing behind Ukraine's Yuliia Shuliar and Turkey's Aysel Onder.

The 21-year-old Indian clocked 55.82 seconds, as Yuliia claimed the gold with a timing of 55.16 seconds, while Aysel secured silver by clocking 55.23 seconds.

Deepthi recently bought back half of the one-acre plot in Kalleda village in Warangal which her daily-wager parents - Yadagiri and Dhanalaxmi - had sold in 2016 for Rs 9 lakh to support her career.

She bought back the land for Rs 11 lakh with the award money received for her gold-medal-winning performance at the Asian Para Games in Guangzhou, China last year.

Deepthi, who was spotted by Sports Authority of India coach Ramesh in Hyderabad, started her para-athletics journey in 2019.