National Sports Awards: Sheetal Devi recieving the Arjuna Award from President Droupadi Murmu (PTI)
The Arjuna Awardee and para-archer, Sheetal Devi has been named as the PwD nationwide icon by the Election Commission of India.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) in affiliation with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) organised an Exhibition Cricket Match between the Indian Deaf Cricket Association (IDCA) Team and the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) staff to foster voter schooling and inclusivity. The match was held on March 16, 2024, at Karnail Singh Stadium in New Delhi. On the event, Ms. Sheetal Devi, a distinguished Para-archer, and Arjuna Awardee, was introduced as the National Icon within the PwD class.
The occasion was graced by Chief Election Commissioner Shri Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioners Shri Gyanesh Kumar and Shri Sukhbir Singh Sandhu who felicitated the profitable staff. Renowned former Indian Cricketer, Nikhil Chopra, was additionally invited as the particular visitor alongside officers from DDCA and IDCA.
This cricket match exemplified the dedication made by CEC Shri Rajiv Kumar to the Indian deaf Cricket staff when he felicitated them for bringing laurels to the nation by profitable the T20 Champions Trophy held in UAE, on the eve of International Day of PwDs in 2022. He had talked about that “ECI will explore the possibility of sponsoring a match of the Indian Deaf Cricket Association team with mainstream cricket teams.”
Both groups put up a spirited efficiency to entertain and thrill the gang of 2500 spectators together with Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) of assorted classes and younger voters, gathered underneath a brilliant blue sky to benefit from the match. The DDCA staff gained by 69 runs (Scorecard- DDCA 190/5; IDCA – 121/8) in a match the place the message of inclusivity and togetherness was the final word victor. The message of ‘Nothing like voting, I vote for sure’ rang loud and true all through the occasion.
It underscores ECI’s dedication in the direction of inclusivity and empowerment and will encourage fellow voters with disabilities to enrol and take part within the electoral course of.
The match concluded with a charming efficiency by the ‘Shining Star Music Band’- a band that includes the visually impaired.
For the occasion, the Commission launched a devoted Voter’s Guide for PwDs and Senior Citizen Electors. The complete booklet outlines important provisions obtainable to PwDs and senior residents, together with infrastructural, informative, and procedural particulars at polling stations, as properly as the applicability and process for Postal Ballots, facilitating a clean and pleasurable voting expertise.
