Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award

• The Khel Ratna Award, officially known as the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, formerly known as the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in Sports and Games, is the highest sporting honour of India.
• The Award was instituted in the year 1991-92.
• The award from 1991-2021 was named after Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India as Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratan Award. The award since August 6, 2021 is named after Major Dhyan Chand, an Indian field hockey player, widely regarded as one of the greatest field hockey players of all time.
• It is given for the “most outstanding performance by a sportsperson” over the period of the last four years.

About the Award

• The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in Sports and Games is officially known as the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.
• It is the most prestigious national sports award, awarded annually, that a sportsperson can get from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in India.
• The honouree is/are recognized for their spectacular and most exceptional accomplishment in the sphere of the sport over a time period of 4 years internationally by a committee appointed by the Ministry.
• The Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award will consist of a certificate, a medallion, and a cash payment of Rs. 25 lakhs as of 2020.
• The Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, which was established in 1991–1992, was granted for a sportsperson’s performance over a year.
• The Ministry amended the standards in February 2015 to take achievements over 4 years into account based on the recommendations made by the Khel Ratna award selection committee in 2014.

Eligibility

• The eligibility criteria for the Award have been listed below –
  1. Outstanding performance throughout the progress of the last four years in international competitions that are similar to the Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, World Games, Championships, and World Cup.
  2. The accomplishments of the athletes in these events and other competitions up until the end of the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, or Asian Games may be taken into consideration during the years when these competitions are held.
  3. The sportspersons against whom the inquiry is ongoing/pending for the use of banned substances and drugs are not eligible to be part of the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award winners list.

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award Nominations

• The procedure for the nominations for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award is as follows –
  1. The Sports Authority of India (SAI), the Indian Olympic Association, the Sports Promotion and Control Boards, the state and UTs governments, and all government-recognized national sports federations submit nominees for the Major Dhyan Chand award, with a maximum of two qualified athletes per sports discipline.
  2. In the context of cricket, the nominations come from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and SAI is empowered to make the nominations on account of all the National Sports Federations that have been suspended or denied recognition.
  3. The past prize winners of the Award may also suggest one athlete for the sport for which they were recognized. In meritorious situations in which no recommendations have been submitted from the nominating agencies, the Government may nominate up to two athletes.
  4. The deadline for submissions for a given year is April 30, which is the last working day of April.

List of Winners of Award

Some Interesting Facts about Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award

• The famous chess player, Vishwanathan Anand became the first sportsman to receive the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award for his performance and achievements in chess from the year 1992 to 1993.
• In 2001, sport shooter Abhinav Bindra, then aged 18, became the youngest recipient of the award.
• Olympic bronze medal-winning weightlifter Karnam Malleswari was the first Indian woman to receive the Khel Ratna in 1994-95.
• Till date, Pankaj Advani is the only sportsperson to have won this award for 2 sports-snooker and billiards.

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