Election Commission declares para archers Sheetal, Rakesh icons

The Election Commission of India (ECI) declared para archers Sheetal Devi and Rakesh Kumar as the national icons for persons with disabilities (PwD) on Wednesday.

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Speaking at a function, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar, accompanied by Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, said as a young future voter from Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), Sheetal Devi, who was only 17 years old and hailed from the Union Territory, would motivate both youth and PwDs to engage in the forthcoming Assembly elections in J&K.

Sheetal, who belongs to Kishtwar (J&K), was born without arms while Rakesh, who belongs to Katra in Jammu, was paralysed waist down in 2010 in an accident.

Both Sheetal and Rakesh, who also belonged to J&K, had won a bronze medal in the mixed team compound open archery event during the recently concluded Paris Paralympics-2024.