Golden Girl of India Sheetal Devi receives Arjuna Award from President of India

Listen to Story 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 Comd 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 Mr 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, Mr Kuldeep Baidwan designed a special kit to help Sheetal do Archery with her mouth and legs. Sheetal is now an Asian Para Games medallist 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, She is now focused on bringing Olympics Gold the nation..