New Delhi/ Mumbai: The sports activities ministry on Monday stated that double Olympic medal-winning pistol shooter Manu Bhaker’s identify was not thought-about for the Main Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award as a result of she had not utilized for the India’s highest sporting honour, whilst her household raised questions concerning the want for an utility by the athlete in a yr when her achievements had been historic.
Manu Bhaker had gained two bronze medals on the Paris Olympics — the ladies’s 10m air pistol and the combined 10m air pistol occasion. (PTI)
The sports activities ministry, nonetheless, added that the ultimate checklist for the Khel Ratna has not but been finalised, leaving the door open for Bhaker to be thought-about for the accolade.
A 12-member awards committee stoked controversy after its checklist of suggestions for India’s highest sporting honour didn’t point out the double-medallist from the 2024 Paris Olympics. The suggestions for the Khel Ratna included Indian males’s hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh, who led the group to a bronze medal in Paris, and males’s excessive soar gold medallist (within the T64 class) on the Paralympics Praveen Kumar.
“This is not the final list, there is a process involved,” a sports activities ministry official advised HT. “The recommendations have to go through the sports minister before the list of awardees is finalised,” the official added. Folks within the ministry conscious of the event stated the awards committee goes by the protocol of discussing these names who’ve utilized for the Nationwide Sports activities Awards and Bhaker’s utility was not there.
Based on the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports activities pointers amended on October 24, 2024, “applications are being invited only online through a dedicated portal”. The rules additional said that eligible sportspersons “need to self-apply” by way of the net portal”.
“If she had applied, there is no reason for us not to consider her,” stated a member of the awards committee who didn’t want to be named.
Bhaker’s father, Ramkishan, in the meantime asserted that his daughter shouldn’t be required to use for an award, particularly after changing into the one athlete from Impartial India to win two medals on the similar version of the Olympics.
The 22-year-old had gained bronze within the girls’s 10m air pistol occasion earlier than pairing up with Sarabjot Singh to win a second bronze within the combined 10m air pistol occasion.
“I have been making sure that she applies for awards for the last four years, Khel Ratna and Padam Shri awards. Even this time, when she has won two Olympic medals, does she have to apply? The whole country knows what she has achieved,” Ramkishan advised HT on Monday. “Why does she need to apply for the award? There are some 49 applications of Manu (for various awards) which are pending with the sports ministry. What about them?”
Bhaker’s coach Jaspal Rana claimed the shooter was “disheartened” after being ignored for the Khel Ratna. He stated the Nationwide Rifle Affiliation of India, the governing physique of the game within the nation, ought to have taken the lead within the award utility.
“I don’t know whether she applied or not, but even if she didn’t, someone in the NRAI could’ve nudged her,” Rana advised HT. “Manu had a very busy Olympic cycle and a few super busy months following her medals in Paris. Surely, there could have been a way to make sure her name reaches the committee.”
The NRAI, nonetheless, made it clear that the matter of a authorities award is strictly between an athlete and the federal government. Nonetheless, the federation has written to the ministry on Monday to contemplate Bhaker for the award.
“The federation had no role to play in her application,” NRAI president Kalikesh Singh Deo stated. “The system is rightly designed to keep federations out of this process and ensure the athlete is in direct touch with the awards committee. We don’t even know if she applied or not, but if she did, I don’t think the committee had any reason to not consider her. If she didn’t apply, there’s nothing the committee could’ve done. Nobody deserves the award more than Manu. We’ve taken cognizance of media reports and written to the sports ministry today requesting them to take note of her performance at the Olympics and her overall stellar career.”
Prior to now, the awards committee had the suitable to make concerns even when there was no utility from at athlete. It’s how Mohammed Shami was given the Arjuna Award final yr regardless of the quick bowler not making use of.
Now, nonetheless, the awards committee member stated, the federal government gave them a mandate to solely contemplate athletes who had utilized for the awards. In different phrases, Bhaker couldn’t be chosen by the committee if she had not despatched in an utility.
The Khel Ratna, India’s highest sports activities award, comes with a medal and a money prize of ₹25 lakh.
Bhaker acquired the Arjuna Award, India’s second-highest sporting honour, in 2020.