Armless para-archer Sheetal Devi receives Arjuna Award from President Murmu.
In 2019, 11-RR Northern Command adopted her
Meghna Girish helped Sheetal to get the artificial hands.
Sheetal is now an Asian Para Games medalist with Gold and Silver.
Although Sheetal Devi was born without hands in a family that lacked access to basic amenities she never gave up and dreamt of big. She proved it by winning medals in different events at the international level.
India’s para-athlete Sheetal Devi was honored with the Arjuna Award from the President of India on Tuesday.
Hailing from a remote mountain village in Kishtwar district of Jammu Kashmir, affected by terrorism, Sheetal was born without hands in a poor family. Life was full of challenges for her and her family. Her parents never gave up, then in 2019, 11 Rashtriya Rifle Northern Command adopted her, helped her family, gave her opportunities locally, and then in 2021, approached Meghna Girish, mother of Major Akshay Girish, for artificial limbs.
It was Meghna Girish who then convinced Anupam Kher who helped and Sheetal got the artificial hands. But her strength lay in her legs. Preeti Rai of Bengaluru made constant efforts and tied up with sports NGOs and it was her efforts that Sheetal was into archery.
The perseverance of Preeti Rai to back Sheetal and Sheetal’s grit helped her win medals at the World Archery event in 2023. Her coach, Kuldeep Baidwan designed a special kit to help Sheetal do Archery with her mouth and legs. Sheetal is now an Asian Para Games medalist with Gold and Silver. She is being trained by Coach Abhilasha Chaudhary at Shri Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, Katra.
This is an inspiration for the specially-abled and the underprivileged. Sheetal is already an icon in the Kishtwar district, but now she is being appreciated nationally and internationally for her Strength and Shakti. With Asia already conquered with 2 Gold Medals and a Silver,
Netizens have reasons to congratulate Sheetal Devi a native of one of the remotest villages of the mountainous Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir as she has set an example for the youth of the whole country.
This is Sheetal Devi from J&K. She was born without arms. Three years back Indian army officers of Sheetal’s village along with Major Akshay Girish Trust approached The Anupam Kher Foundation to see the possibility of making Sheetal’s dream of becoming a teacher come true.
The gifted girl of the Mughal Maidan area of Kishtwar district of J&K was born without hands but her actions and the spirit with which she has moved on in life is an inspiration for all.
Like other children of her age, she does go to school, studies well, and also does most of the work on her own, but all with her toes.
Life was going along normally for her until she was noticed by the Rashtriya Rifles unit of the Indian Army at one of the events for Youth at Mughal Maidan in 2019.
Recognizing her talent, she was adopted by Army for her education. Concurrently, efforts were being made by Army to seek medical help and provide her with artificial limbs.
In May 2021, Bengaluru-based Meghna Girish, mother of Nagrota martyr Major Akshay Girish came forward to help. Further with her efforts, renowned actor Anupam Kher, after analyzing the case, committed to financial help through his NGO for Sheetal’s treatment of artificial limbs.
Sheetal Devi was trained and groomed at the sports complex of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board.
Sheetal Devi along with Rakesh Kumar trained in the same complex put up a good fight in the high-intensity encounter against Italy and won gold in the Compound open mixed team.
Notably, all these archers have been trained under the guidance of coaches Kuldeep Vedwan and Abhilasha Chaudhary at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board’s Sports Complex, Katra.
Shrine Board’s Sports Complex has been producing sportspersons of national and international standards in various sporting disciplines viz., Archery, Athletics, Judo, Shooting, Badminton, etc, who have been showing promising results in varied competitions. Moreover, SMVDSB Archery Academy has been accredited under Khelo India by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Government of India.
Article Credit: earlytimes