Calcutta: A teenager who sells ghugni with his father at Bally station has helped Bengal secure the second spot in the just-concluded National Para-Swimming Championships in Udaipur, Rajasthan.

Mahadeb Prajapati, 17, was among the 34 participants from Bengal - with varying degrees of visual and orthopaedic disabilities - who won 38 gold, 32 silver and eight bronze medals between themselves. The tally is second only to Maharashtra's.

"Most of them come from low-income rural households. They are fighting poverty besides disability," said Sunil Kr Biswas, a member of the Bengal Paralympic Committee who accompanied the Bengal contingent to Udaipur.

Mahadeb, whose right leg is more than an inch smaller than his left leg and spinal cord is swollen, won gold in 100m breaststroke and two silvers - one in 100m freestyle and the other in 200m individual medley (all four strokes in one race).

The Class XI student of an Uttarpara school has been swimming since he was nine. He has competed in national championships (sub-juniors) since 2012 and won gold in Chennai, Goa and Bangalore. But the medals haven't changed the economic condition of Mahadeb's family. His father still sells ghugni at Bally station, a few kilometres from their home in Bharpotti village. "I help him whenever I can," the boy said.

Sahida Khatun, 25, suffers from a similar problem. Not only is her right leg smaller, it is also narrower than the left leg. Her father, a farm labour who doubles as a daily wager, cannot afford her treatment.

The MA (history) student of Rabindra Bharati University won two gold medals in Udaipur, in 100m freestyle and 100m backstroke, and a silver in 50m freestyle.

The Ramakrishna Mission Blind Boys' Academy in Narendrapur was the single-largest contributor to the state's tally, with 21 gold medals, 12 silver and two bronze.

Biswajit Jana, 15, a Class VIII student at the academy who was born with 80 per cent blindness in both eyes, won three golds. "I never knew (till I came to the academy) I would be able to swim, leave alone win medals," the son of a farmer from Sabang said.

Prosenjit Chel, 14, won three golds. The boy from Bankura suffers from 75 per cent blindness