Defined: How athletes are chosen for Khel Ratna Award amid Manu Bhaker and Harvinder Singh’s criticism
Each Bhaker and Harvinder, who had been amongst India’s standout performers in Paris Olympics and Paralympics respectively, have been essential of this 12 months’s shortlist for the Main Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.
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Months after their heroics in Paris, shooter Manu Bhaker and para-archer Harvinder Singh are within the information once more and this time it’s not due to their sporting achievements. Bhaker and Harvinder had been among the many standout performers within the Paris 2024 Video games earlier this 12 months within the Olympics and Paralympics respectively.
Pistol shooter Bhaker had made historical past with two bronze medals, changing into the primary Indian post-Independence to win multiple medal in the identical version of the Olympics. A month later,
Harvinder would turn out to be the primary Indian to win gold in Paralympic archery.
Each Bhaker and Harvinder, nonetheless, have been within the information these days for being essential of this 12 months’s shortlist for the Main Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.
Why Manu Bhaker and Harvinder Singh have been essential of the Khel Ratna Award shortlist?
Each Bhaker and Harvinder have slammed the Sports activities Minister after their names had been
reportedly not included within the shortlist for the distinguished award, which is introduced through the Nationwide Sports activities Awards ceremony.
Bhaker, who had suffered a heartbreak within the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as a consequence of a pistol malfunction, would later put up a publish on social networking platform X questioning whether or not she was even worthy of the award.
“Inform me, Do I deserve Main Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award? Thank You,” wrote the 22-year-old within the publish that she deleted later.
Bhaker’s father Ram Kishan later acknowledged that
he “regretted” introducing her to the game of capturing, and will have as an alternative inspired her to take up a preferred sport like cricket as an alternative.
“I remorse placing her within the sport of capturing. I ought to have as an alternative made her a cricketer. Then, all of the awards and accolades would have come her approach. She gained two Olympic medals in a single version, nobody has ever executed that. What else do you count on my baby to do for the nation?” Ram Kishan informed The Instances of India.
It’s price noting, nonetheless, that Bhaker herself later admitted to a “lapse on her half” whereas submitting for the nomination course of.
“Almost about ongoing challenge for my nomination for probably the most prestigious Khel Ratna award – I want to state that as an athlete my function is to play and carry out for my nation. I consider there was a lapse, possibly on my half whereas submitting for the nomination which is being corrected,” Bhaker posted on her social media accounts on Tuesday.
Harvinder would later allege “discrimination” within the choice course of for the Khel Ratna Award, stating that whereas Tokyo 2020 Paralympic gold medallists acquired the award, para-athletes who completed on prime of the rostrum in Paris 2024 had been ignored.
“Discrimination in sports activities’ Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Gold medalists had been awarded by Main Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, however what about Paris 2024 Paralympic Gold medalists? Identical Competitors, Identical Gold, similar pleasure, why not similar award?” the 33-year-old wrote on X, tagging the Prime Minister’s workplace.
What’s the choice course of for the Main Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award?
The Khel Ratna award, which is the best sporting honour in India, was first introduced in 1992 and was beforehand often called the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in honour of the previous Prime Minister of India. Whereas an athlete earlier used to obtain the award on the idea of his/her efficiency during the last one 12 months, the rule has since been amended to extend the time interval from one to 4 years.
As for the method of choosing an athlete for the award, Nationwide Sports activities Federations (NSFs), the Indian Olympic Affiliation (IOA), Sports activities Authority of India (SAI), the Sports activities Promotion and Management Boards in addition to state and union territory governments can ship nominees as long as there aren’t greater than two people in a single sport.
The Sports activities Ministry may take suo moto cognisance of an athlete whose title has not appeared within the checklist and nominate him/her.
The checklist is then ahead to SAI and Nationwide Anti-Doping Company for verifying sporting achievements in addition to to test any doping-related offence, which might result in the removing of an athlete’s title if discovered responsible.
The names are then forwarded to a 12-member committee appointed by the Sports activities Ministry comprising earlier winners of the award in addition to veteran journalists in addition to the Director Normal of SAI and the Joint Secretary of the Division of Sports activities and different directors and consultants.
Nominated athletes are then awarded factors for his or her current achievements, and people with the best factors are forwarded to the Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports activities – the publish that’s at present occupied by Mansukh Mandaviya for closing approval.
In response to Bhaker and Harvinder’s criticism, the Sports activities Ministry had just lately clarified that the checklist for the Khel Ratna Award was but to be finalised.
“There isn’t a finalised checklist for Nationwide Sport’s Awards but so there is no such thing as a level of exclusion of title of any participant,” a Ministery of Youth Affairs and Sports activities supply was quoted as saying in keeping with ANI.