"He does not only have competitiveness but ability, regardless of the circumstance he faced, to never quit."
Most newly, our highly-principled Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi Ji retitled the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, the country’s highest sporting honor, after hockey wizard Major Dhyan Chand.
- This announcement was declared a day after the Indian men's hockey team won the bronze medal in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics and few hours after the women's hockey team stood fourth.
Some special Amendments are:
- The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award will now be called the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.
- This renamed Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award provides the awardee with a cash prize of Rs 25 lakh.
- Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award will be the highest sporting award given by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports for the spectacular and extremely outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson over a period of four years.
- The Khel Ratna award was instituted in 1991-1992 and the first recipient was Chess legend, Viswanathan Anand. At that time the other winners were Leander Paes, Sachin Tendulkar, Dhanraj Pillay, Pullela Gopichand, Abhinav Bindra, Anju Bobby George, Mary Kom, and Rani Rampal in 2020.
The Major Dhyan Chand Award, now officially acknowledged as Major Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sports and Games, is the lifetime achievement sporting honor of the Republic of India. The award is named after Dhyan Chand (1905–79), an Indian hockey player who scored more than 1000 goals during a career that spanned over 20 years from 1926 to 1948. It is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. The selected recipients are recognized by the Sports committee constituted by Ministry and are esteemed for their contributions to the sports community during their active sporting career and even after retirement.
Initiated and implemented in 2002, this award is provided only to the Athletes included in the events like Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, World Championship, and World Cup along with Cricket, Indigenous Games, etc. The nominations for a given year are accepted till 30 April or the last working day of April. A nine-member committee evaluates the nominations and later submits their recommendations to the Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports for further approval.
The very first recipients of this award were Shahuraj Birajdar (Boxing), Ashok Diwan (Hockey), and Aparna Ghosh (Basketball), who were honored in 2002. As of 2020, the award comprises a statuette, a certificate, a ceremonial dress, and a cash prize of ₹10 lakh (US$14,000).
Let's dive into the very famous personality Major Dhyan Chand and his contributions to the Indian Hockey team:-
- Popularly Known as The Wizard, Major Dhyan Chand, a field hockey player, had played international hockey from 1926 to 1949, scoring over 400 goals in his career whole career.
- He was, born in Allahabad, and was part of the Olympic team that won gold medals in 1928, 1932, and 1936.
- Apart from the Khel Ratna award, the country’s highest award for lifetime achievement in sports is known as the Dhyan Chand Award. It was instituted in 2002.
- The National Stadium in New Delhi has also been renamed the Dhyan Chand National Stadium in 2002.
- The National Sports Day is celebrated every year across India on 29th August to mark the birth anniversary of Major Dhyan Chand born on 29th August 1905.
- The President of India on this special occasion honors the deserving athletes from various sports with the most reputed Khel Ratna, Arjuna Awards, Dronacharya Awards, and Dhyan Chand Awards.