National Sports Awards: Ministry extends deadline till Jun 22 over Covid-19

The sports ministry on Wednesday has extended the deadline for submitting applications for the national sports awards till June 22. In the revised guidelines it also allowed athletes to self-nominate in view of the "difficulties" being faced by them to find recommenders amid the coronavirus (Covid-19) lockdown.

Wednesday (June 3) was to be the last day of completing the nomination process but the period has been extended along with the relaxation in the process because of the problems athletes are facing in "getting the recommendation of the prescribed authorities/persons due to country-wide lockdown on account of Covid-19 pandemic."

What is Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award?

The Khel Ratna award, officially known as Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in Sports and Games, is the highest sporting honour in India. The award is named after former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Khel Ratna is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. The recipient(s) is/are selected by a committee constituted by the Ministry. The athlete(s) is/are honoured for their spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports over a period of four years at international level.

"...it has been decided to do away with the condition of submitting only with the recommendations of the authorities/persons prescribed in the awards scheme," stated a sports ministry circular.
 

"...the part of the application form requiring the recommendation of the prescribed authorities/persons may be left blank," it added.

The Ministry has invited only e-mail applications this year due to the pandemic.

What is Arjuna Awards?

The Arjuna Awards are given by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in India to recognise outstanding achievement in field of sports. The process of giving Arjuna Awards was started in 1961, which includes a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh and a bronze statue of Arjuna and a scroll.

The criteria for conferring Arjuna Award has been revised over the years. According to the revised guidelines, to be eligible for the award, a sportsperson should not only have had good performance consistently for the previous four years at the international level with excellence for the year for which the award is recommended, but should also have shown qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline.

As per prescribed norms, the nominations for national awards can only be made along with recommendation of the national federation, sports board, and former awardees.

The relaxation offers a window of opportunities for those athletes who have neither been shortlisted by their national sports federations nor got the backing of previous awardees.
 

The awards, including the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, are given away every year on August 29, the birth anniversary of hockey wizard Dhyan Chand, which is also celebrated as the national sports day.

List of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award winner:

Year	Name Of The Awardee	Discipline
2019	Bajrang Punia	Wrestling
	Deepa Malik	Paralympic

2018	Mirabai Chanu	Weightlifting
	Virat Kohli	Cricket
2017	Sardar Singh	Hockey
	Devendra	Para – Athletic
2016	P.V. Sindhu	Badminton
	Dipa Karmakar	Gymnastics
	Jitu Rai	Shooting
	Sakshi Malik	Wrestling
2015	Sania Mirza	Tennis
2013	Ronjan Sodhi	Shooting
2012	Vijay Kumar	Shooting
	Yogeshwar Dutt	Wrestling
2011	Gagan Narang	Shooting
2010	Saina Nehwal	Badminton
2009	Mary Kom	Boxing
	Vijender Singh
	Sushil Kumar	Wrestling
2007	MS Dhoni	Cricket
2006	Manavjit Singh Sandhu	Shooting
2005	Pankaj Advani	Billiards & Snooker
2004	Lt. Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore	Shooting
2003	Anju Bobby George	Athletics
2002	K M Beenamol	Athletics
	Anjali R.Bhagwat	Shooting
2001	Abhinav Bindra	Shooting
2000-2001	Pullela Gopichand	Badminton
1999-2000	Dhanraj Pillay	Hockey
1998-1999	Jyotirmoyee Sikdar	Athletics
1997-1998	Sachin Tendulkar	Cricket
1996-1997	Leander Paes	Tennis
1995-1996	N Kunjurani	Weightlifting
1994-1995	K Malleshwari	Weightlifting
1992-1994	Cdr. Homi D. Motivala	Yachting
	Cdr. P.K. Garg	Yachting
1991-1992	Vishwanath Anand	Chess
	Geet Sethi	Billiards