Year after year, the Arjuna and Khel Ratna Awards seem to be marred by controversy.
THE NATIONAL SPORTS awards—Arjuna and Khel Ratna—are bestowed upon athletes for exemplary performances in their respective fields. The Arjuna Award was started in 1961, while the Khel Ratna, India’s highest sporting honour, was first awarded in 2001-02. The sheen of the national sports awards needs some work, given the number of controversies associated with them.
Experts are calling the recent snub of wrestler Bajrang Punia for the Khel Ratna an indication of this. Punia won gold medals at both the Commonwealth and Asian Games but was still overlooked for the highest sports honour. As per reports in a leading daily, the wrestler bagged the highest ratings. He was apparently discriminated against by an Awards jury that comprised prominent journalists.
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