National Sports Awards Delayed; Ministry Re-Evaluating Nominees To Ensure Worthy Winners: Report

The eagerly-awaited national sports awards have been uncharacteristically delayed this year and sources in the Sports Ministry said it is because of a re-evaluation process that is currently underway to ensure that "only the deserving" athletes get the honour.

The awards selection committee had given its recommendations in December last year after the process of nominations was started slightly later than usual. However, the approved names are not yet out as the ministry is re-assessing the recommendations.

"The list of Arjuna award recommendations is being re-evaluated right now. The value of these awards should not get diminished, that's the goal," a source said on Monday.

"It shouldn't be the case that we have Arjuna awardees in every nook and corner but when you ask them about their accomplishments, there is nothing much to show. And then not to forget the litigations and outrageous media statements that come out in some cases," he added, referring to past controversies of athletes taking the matter to judiciary on not being considered.

The view in the ministry is that a selection panel should not even be needed to pick the awardees and a clear criteria with points should be in place to ensure that there are no "unworthy nominations."

"It's like the prize money, if your have won an Olympic medal, you shouldn't have to fill a form to get your Rs 75 lakh prize money. The system just knows and transfers the money suitably. Similarly, an athlete who has achieved the requisite shouldn't have to be evaluated again by a panel," said the source.

The awards were traditionally presented on August 29, the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand, by the President. However, this tradition has not been followed in the past few years due to scheduling issues and process of nominations getting affected by major events.

According to sources, hockey player Hardik Singh was the sole recommendation for the Khel Ratna while 24 names were shortlisted for the Arjuna awards this year, including teenaged chess star Divya Deshmukh and trailblazing decathlete Tejaswin Shankar.

In a first, a Yogasana athlete, Aarti Pal, was also recommended for the Arjuna award, five years after the discipline was formally recognised by the Sports Ministry.

The 19-year-old Deshmukh is the first Indian woman to win the World Cup, while Tejaswin Shankar won a historic silver medal in the Asian Games in 2023 and followed it up with a second-place finish in the Asian Championships last year.

Tejaswin criticised the ministry's latest position in a social media post.

"This should have been thought of 'before' the unofficial recommended names came out in December. Not 4 months 'after'. This delay is not just demotivating to athletes and coaches but also a sign of disrespect," he posted.

The Khel Ratna, which is the country's highest sporting honour, comes with a medallion, a citation and a cash prize of Rs 25 lakh, while the Arjuna award makes the winner richer by Rs 15 lakh.