The recent controversy stirred by national badminton star Saina Nehwal regarding her non-inclusion in the list of recommendations for the Padma Awards sent by the Ministry of Sports to the Union Home Ministry calls for some serious introspection.
From time to time, the Sports Ministry gets embroiled in some controversy or the other, which sends out a clear message to our countrymen that all is not well with sports. The malady of favouritism, corruption and unfair practices seems to have penetrated deep into the sports arena, which is proving to be malefic to the overall development of sports.
Sportspersons have started knocking on the doors of the courts to seek justice, as was done by Commonwealth gold medallist and pugilist Manoj Kumar who got the Arjuna Award ultimately through the court's intervention. When undeserving sportspersons are recommended and ultimately bag the Arjuna Award, it sends out wrong signals to other sportspersons that not fair play and impartiality, but corruption and favouritism, reign supreme in the Ministry of Sports. The Arjuna Award to little-known squash player Anaka Alankamony for her not-very-significant achievements is a case in point. Despite her not being a national champion in the senior’s league, she was recommended and got the award largely due to the fact that her case was backed by the head of the selection committee. The message sent out to the sports fraternity was loud and clear. Right connections in the selection committee and the Sports Ministry can do wonders.
Saina's grievance that She had been overlooked in the recommendations sent by the Ministry of Sports for the Padma Bhushan to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to be announced on the occasion of Republic Day this year. Instead, twin Olympics medallist Sushil Kumar was recommended, though he had not completed the mandatory five years hiatus after the award of Padma Shri. He had been awarded the Padma Shri in 2012 and would have been eligible next year whereas Saina, having been awarded the Padma Shri in 2010, was eligible for the award this year.
The fact that the Union Sports Minister chose to concede her demand by announcing that he will recommend her case for the award of Padma Bhushan, even though the letter recommending her case from the Badminton Association of India (BAI) was received by him as late as on 3 January, reflects poorly on the Ministry, which showed itself to be weak-kneed and easily swayed. The damage inflicted to the prestige of the Padma awards by bowing to the wishes of the sportspersons needs to be fathomed by the powers that be.
What is intriguing is the fact that while on the one hand the Sports Minister claims that the letter recommending Saina's name for the award was received by him at his residence on 3 January, the BAI emphatically states that her case for the award was recommended as far back as August last year ~ well before the last date of 20 August set by the Ministry. The BAI had also received confirmation from the Sports Ministry regarding the receipt of the letter recommending her case. If, as claimed by the Sports Minister, the letter was not received earlier, how is it that Saina was told by some official in the Ministry that she had not been recommended, instead of clarifying that her case had not been received in the Ministry till the time the recommendation of Sushil Kumar was sent to the MHA? It is quite evident that either the Sports Minister had been misled or misinformed or a deliberate attempt was made to keep Saina out of reckoning for the award of the Padma Bhushan. The matter calls for an internal probe as to why the Sports Minister was misled and responsibility fixed for taking action against the official concerned for such misdemeanour.
If, as he contends, the recommendation for the award of the Padma Bhushan was received as late as 3 January, the Sports Minister Mr.Sarbananda Sonowal would have been well within the rules to reject the claim of Saina or pass on the letter to the concerned officials of the Ministry for further processing the case and sending a suitable reply to BAI. But he preferred to straightaway recommend her case and throw the ball in the court of the MHA to take a final decision. The last date for receipt of nominations in the MHA was 15 September 2014. His contention that he was led by his sole motive of encouraging sportspersons in his final decision does not hold much water. Would the heavens have fallen if she was awarded the medal next year and not this year? By his magnanimous gesture of sending her case to the MHA, Mr Sonowal has opened a Pandora's Box for other sportspersons too to stake their claims for the award. A step in that direction has already been initiated by ace boxer and 2008 Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh who has staked his claim for the award of Padma Bhushan as he feels that his achievements are at par with that of Saina. Will the Sports Minister make an exception this time too and send his case to the MHA for consideration?
It is sad indeed that our sportspersons demand honours for their efforts in the sports arena. Though Saina avers that she did not demand the Padma Bhushan but merely sought clarification, the fact remains that she publicly aired her grievance. Such demands tend to belittle the awards and even the other deserving recipients as the message sent out to the people of the country is that these awards are there for the asking and all that one need is right connections and influence in the corridors of powers where the recommendations and conferment of these awards are decided.
What is interesting is the fact that those aspiring for these Padma awards are already recipients of the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award and the Arjuna Award, apart from Padma Shri and cash awards of lakhs of rupees. Not that we begrudge them the money, but some of them are lakhpatis and crorepatis considering the amount of cash they get with every medal won in the international events. Gujarat government has a policy of paying cash award of Rs 5 crore, 3 crore and 2 crore for those who bag gold, silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the Olympics. For the Asian Games medal winners, it is Rs 2 crore, 1 crore and 50 lakh for those who secure the first three positions. Gold, silver and bronze medallists in the Commonwealth Games get Rs 1 crore, 50 lakh and 25 lakh respectively. In the Nationals, those who clinch the gold, silver and bronze become entitled to Rs 3 lakh, 2 lakh and 1 lakh, respectively.
The Haryana government's sops are more alluring. An Olympics gold medallist gets Rs 6 crore, a silver medallist Rs 4 crore and a bronze medallist becomes entitled to Rs 2.5 crore. These cash rewards are apart from the handsome amounts given by the Sports Ministry to all medal winners of various international events. Consequent to her raising the issue of non-payment of incentive amounts by the Telangana government on Tweeter, Saina was paid the amount along with others by the government last year.
Since the sportspersons of our country have a separate set of awards, that is, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award and the Arjuna Award apart from the other awards doled out by the States, the Ministry of Home Affairs could seriously consider keeping out sportspersons from the list of awardees of Padma Awards. Some of the more prominent sportspersons may in the years ahead go on to receive the Dhyan Chand Award for life time achievements and/or even the prestigious Dhronacharya Awards for training other sportspersons who bag medals in the international arena.
If it is still felt that prominent sportspersons need to be given due recognition by conferment of the Padma Awards, it should be done in very exceptional cases, rather than as a rule, and that too after due consideration to their contribution to the sports and to the country as a whole over a period of decades, rather than for a few years. Now that the portals to the award of Bharat Ratna have been opened to sportspersons too, this most prestigious award should be awarded to legends like Dhyan Chand as has been done in the case of Sachin Tendulkar. Had better sense prevailed among the powers that ruled the country after Independence, Dhyan Chand could have been honoured with the highest civilian award during his life time and the nation thus expressed its gratitude to him for his incredible and peerless contribution to the nation and the game. Better late than never, not just the sportspersons but the whole nation will laud the government if the hockey legend is honoured at the earliest.
From time to time, the Sports Ministry gets embroiled in some controversy or the other, which sends out a clear message to our countrymen that all is not well with sports. The malady of favouritism, corruption and unfair practices seems to have penetrated deep into the sports arena, which is proving to be malefic to the overall development of sports.
Sportspersons have started knocking on the doors of the courts to seek justice, as was done by Commonwealth gold medallist and pugilist Manoj Kumar who got the Arjuna Award ultimately through the court's intervention. When undeserving sportspersons are recommended and ultimately bag the Arjuna Award, it sends out wrong signals to other sportspersons that not fair play and impartiality, but corruption and favouritism, reign supreme in the Ministry of Sports. The Arjuna Award to little-known squash player Anaka Alankamony for her not-very-significant achievements is a case in point. Despite her not being a national champion in the senior’s league, she was recommended and got the award largely due to the fact that her case was backed by the head of the selection committee. The message sent out to the sports fraternity was loud and clear. Right connections in the selection committee and the Sports Ministry can do wonders.
Saina's grievance that She had been overlooked in the recommendations sent by the Ministry of Sports for the Padma Bhushan to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to be announced on the occasion of Republic Day this year. Instead, twin Olympics medallist Sushil Kumar was recommended, though he had not completed the mandatory five years hiatus after the award of Padma Shri. He had been awarded the Padma Shri in 2012 and would have been eligible next year whereas Saina, having been awarded the Padma Shri in 2010, was eligible for the award this year.
The fact that the Union Sports Minister chose to concede her demand by announcing that he will recommend her case for the award of Padma Bhushan, even though the letter recommending her case from the Badminton Association of India (BAI) was received by him as late as on 3 January, reflects poorly on the Ministry, which showed itself to be weak-kneed and easily swayed. The damage inflicted to the prestige of the Padma awards by bowing to the wishes of the sportspersons needs to be fathomed by the powers that be.
What is intriguing is the fact that while on the one hand the Sports Minister claims that the letter recommending Saina's name for the award was received by him at his residence on 3 January, the BAI emphatically states that her case for the award was recommended as far back as August last year ~ well before the last date of 20 August set by the Ministry. The BAI had also received confirmation from the Sports Ministry regarding the receipt of the letter recommending her case. If, as claimed by the Sports Minister, the letter was not received earlier, how is it that Saina was told by some official in the Ministry that she had not been recommended, instead of clarifying that her case had not been received in the Ministry till the time the recommendation of Sushil Kumar was sent to the MHA? It is quite evident that either the Sports Minister had been misled or misinformed or a deliberate attempt was made to keep Saina out of reckoning for the award of the Padma Bhushan. The matter calls for an internal probe as to why the Sports Minister was misled and responsibility fixed for taking action against the official concerned for such misdemeanour.
If, as he contends, the recommendation for the award of the Padma Bhushan was received as late as 3 January, the Sports Minister Mr.Sarbananda Sonowal would have been well within the rules to reject the claim of Saina or pass on the letter to the concerned officials of the Ministry for further processing the case and sending a suitable reply to BAI. But he preferred to straightaway recommend her case and throw the ball in the court of the MHA to take a final decision. The last date for receipt of nominations in the MHA was 15 September 2014. His contention that he was led by his sole motive of encouraging sportspersons in his final decision does not hold much water. Would the heavens have fallen if she was awarded the medal next year and not this year? By his magnanimous gesture of sending her case to the MHA, Mr Sonowal has opened a Pandora's Box for other sportspersons too to stake their claims for the award. A step in that direction has already been initiated by ace boxer and 2008 Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh who has staked his claim for the award of Padma Bhushan as he feels that his achievements are at par with that of Saina. Will the Sports Minister make an exception this time too and send his case to the MHA for consideration?
It is sad indeed that our sportspersons demand honours for their efforts in the sports arena. Though Saina avers that she did not demand the Padma Bhushan but merely sought clarification, the fact remains that she publicly aired her grievance. Such demands tend to belittle the awards and even the other deserving recipients as the message sent out to the people of the country is that these awards are there for the asking and all that one need is right connections and influence in the corridors of powers where the recommendations and conferment of these awards are decided.
What is interesting is the fact that those aspiring for these Padma awards are already recipients of the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award and the Arjuna Award, apart from Padma Shri and cash awards of lakhs of rupees. Not that we begrudge them the money, but some of them are lakhpatis and crorepatis considering the amount of cash they get with every medal won in the international events. Gujarat government has a policy of paying cash award of Rs 5 crore, 3 crore and 2 crore for those who bag gold, silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the Olympics. For the Asian Games medal winners, it is Rs 2 crore, 1 crore and 50 lakh for those who secure the first three positions. Gold, silver and bronze medallists in the Commonwealth Games get Rs 1 crore, 50 lakh and 25 lakh respectively. In the Nationals, those who clinch the gold, silver and bronze become entitled to Rs 3 lakh, 2 lakh and 1 lakh, respectively.
The Haryana government's sops are more alluring. An Olympics gold medallist gets Rs 6 crore, a silver medallist Rs 4 crore and a bronze medallist becomes entitled to Rs 2.5 crore. These cash rewards are apart from the handsome amounts given by the Sports Ministry to all medal winners of various international events. Consequent to her raising the issue of non-payment of incentive amounts by the Telangana government on Tweeter, Saina was paid the amount along with others by the government last year.
Since the sportspersons of our country have a separate set of awards, that is, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award and the Arjuna Award apart from the other awards doled out by the States, the Ministry of Home Affairs could seriously consider keeping out sportspersons from the list of awardees of Padma Awards. Some of the more prominent sportspersons may in the years ahead go on to receive the Dhyan Chand Award for life time achievements and/or even the prestigious Dhronacharya Awards for training other sportspersons who bag medals in the international arena.
If it is still felt that prominent sportspersons need to be given due recognition by conferment of the Padma Awards, it should be done in very exceptional cases, rather than as a rule, and that too after due consideration to their contribution to the sports and to the country as a whole over a period of decades, rather than for a few years. Now that the portals to the award of Bharat Ratna have been opened to sportspersons too, this most prestigious award should be awarded to legends like Dhyan Chand as has been done in the case of Sachin Tendulkar. Had better sense prevailed among the powers that ruled the country after Independence, Dhyan Chand could have been honoured with the highest civilian award during his life time and the nation thus expressed its gratitude to him for his incredible and peerless contribution to the nation and the game. Better late than never, not just the sportspersons but the whole nation will laud the government if the hockey legend is honoured at the earliest.
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