President Murmu presents Arjuna Awards to differently-abled athletes

Indian differently-abled athletes, including World Championship gold medallist Ekta Bhyan, deaf shooter Dhanush Srikanth and para-shooter Rudranksh Khandelwal, received the Arjuna Award from President Droupadi Murmu on Friday in recognition of their exceptional performances.

The awards ceremony took place at Rashtrapati Bhavan, where several Indian athletes and coaches were honoured with National Sports Awards for excellence in sports. The awards are bestowed annually based on the recommendations of a selection committee chaired by retired Supreme Court Justice Arun Kumar Mishra.

President Murmu’s official X handle stated, “President Smt. Droupadi Murmu presented the Arjuna Award, 2025 to Ms. Ekta Bhyan for her outstanding achievements in para-athletics. Ms. Ekta Bhyan has won medals at the Hangzhou Asian Para Games and the World Championships held in Paris and Kobe.” Ekta Bhyan, a club thrower, won a gold medal in the F51 category at the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe, followed by a silver in New Delhi in 2025. She has secured three World Championship medals in total, including a bronze at the 2023 edition in Paris. At the Asian Para Games, she claimed gold in 2018 at Jakarta and a silver in 2023 at Hangzhou in the Club Throw F32/51 category.

Rudranksh Khandelwal received the award after winning two silver medals at the 2023 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou—in the men’s 10 metre air pistol SH1 event and the 50 metre pistol mixed SH1 event—and multiple medals at the World Shooting Para Sport (WSPS) World Cup, including gold medals at Changwon and Al Ain. The President’s X handle noted: “President Smt. Droupadi Murmu presented the Arjuna Award, 2025 to Shri Rudransh Khandelwal for his outstanding achievements in para shooting. Shri Rudransh Khandelwal has won medals at the Hangzhou Asian Para Games, the World Championships held in Lima, and the World Shooting Para Sport World Cup held in Osijek.”

Dhanush Srikanth, a deaf shooter, was also honoured for his notable performances at major international events, including the World Deaf Shooting Championships and the Summer Deaflympics. The President’s official post stated: “President Droupadi Murmu confers Arjuna Award, 2025 on Shri Dhanush Srikanth in recognition of his outstanding achievements in Deaf Shooting. Shri Dhanush Srikanth has delivered remarkable performances at major international competitions, including the World Deaf Shooting Championships and Summer Deaflympics.”

The Arjuna Award recognises good performance over the previous four years and qualities such as leadership, sportsmanship and discipline. Other recipients include Tejaswin Shankar, Muhammad Ajmal Variyathodi, Priyanka Goswami (athletics), Treesa Jolly, Gayatri Gopichand (badminton), Narender (boxing), Vidit Santosh Gujarathi, Divya Jitendra Deshmukh (chess), Lalremsiami, Rajkumar Pal (hockey), Surjeet, Pooja (kabaddi), Arvind Singh (rowing) and Akhil Sheoran (shooting).

The Arjuna Awards (Lifetime) were presented to former Indian footballer and coach Arumainayagam. The Dronacharya Award for outstanding coaching went to Parveer Singh (athletics), Chhote Lal Yadav (boxing) and Neha Nandkumar Chavan (shooting) in the regular category, with Dharmendra Singh Yadav (boxing) and Virender Kumar (wrestling) receiving lifetime honours.

The Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar, recognising contributions to sports promotion and development by corporate entities and NGOs, was awarded to the Army Paralympic Node, Pune.