New Delhi, Dec 7 (IANS): The Government of India has allocated more than Rs 32 crore to the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) under the Scheme of Assistance to National Sports Federations during the period of 2017-18 to 2021-22, Sports Minister Anurag Thakur said in the Parliament on Tuesday.

In a reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Thakur also informed the House that an amount of Rs 10.50 crore was also spent during the last Paralympic cycle under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) for the para athletes.

"Para sports have been placed in the 'Priority' category for financial assistance by the Government and all the requisite assistance is provided for training and competitive exposure of the para athletes, as per the norms laid down for this purpose," the sports ministry said in a release.

"In addition to the above, an amount of Rs.10.50 crore was spent during the last Paralympic cycle under the TOPS for the para athletes who were medal probable, for the training, Out of Pocket Allowances (OPS), Foreign Exposures, Purchase of Equipment, Sports Science Services etc.

The Paralympic athletes are provided all requisite facilities at par with other sportspersons, besides their special needs," it added.

Notably, India parathletes had produced extraordinary results at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, by winning 19 medals (5 gold, 8 silver, 6 bronze).