Minister defends jumbo award list
New Delhi, Aug. 29: Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday defended his government’s decision to confer a record 74 National Sports Awards this year, including an unprecedented five Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna honours, a move which faced severe criticism from all quarters.
This year, the Sports Ministry’s selection committee recommended five athletes, including star cricketer Rohit Sharma, wrestler Vinesh Phogat among others for the Khel Ratna, while selecting 27 for the Arjuna awards.
The ministry will also honour 13 coaches for the Dronacharya and 15 for Dhyan Chand awards.
“The performance of our athletes in the international level has become better. When our players perform better, they have to be recognized and rewarded. If the Goverment doesn’t recognise their achievements, it will discourage every budding sporting talents we have in India,” Rijiju said on Saturday.
“So, compared to the previous years, the performances of the indian athletes have gone up considerably and as a result, the number of award winners have also gone up.” he added.
The Sports Minister further said his ministry has no say in deciding the sports awards and the winners are selected by an independent committee, headed by a former Supreme Court judge.
“There might be disappointments on certain occasions but sports awards are not for one year. It is the cumulative performance of four years. So if any sports person is left out because of other contenders in the same category, it is rewarded next year,” he said. —