DNA Special: No more credit to 'family' for sports award

Today, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award has been renamed as Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, the highest honour given in the field of sports in India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself gave this information and said that keeping in view the sentiments of the people, the Khel Ratna Award has been dedicated to Major Dhyan Chand. However, a section of our country criticized this decision and some people also said that renaming the award is an insult to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. So, today you must think, should India's biggest sports award be named after a politician or a sportsperson who brought India's laurels to the international level.

The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award was instituted in the year 1991-1992. Its main objective was to honour the players who have given their best performance in the field of sports and to increase the awareness of the game among the people of the country. That is, this award belonged to the players of the game and the country. But at that time, it was decided that the award would be given the name of Rajiv Gandhi. Then there was a coalition government of Congress in the country and Prime Minister was PV Narasimha Rao. It is said that there was a lot of debate in the country at that time regarding the name of this award.

However, because Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated during the 1991 Lok Sabha elections, it was argued that the award has been dedicated to him. Whereas Rajiv Gandhi had no contribution in the field of sports. He had only one achievement and that was when the Asian Games were held in Delhi in the year 1982, Rajiv Gandhi was a member of the Organizing Committee of these games.

At that time, two big stadiums were built in Delhi for the Asian Games. The first was Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and the second was Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium. That is, the stadiums built for the Asian Games were also named after the Gandhi Nehru family. And it is not that this tradition was started anew in 1982. Since independence, from streets to educational institutions and awards in India, everything has been linked to the identity of the Gandhi Nehru family.

In the year 2015, through an RTI, it was revealed that there are total 64 such government schemes across the country, whose names are on the Gandhi Nehru family. There were also 12 central schemes then. Apart from this, 28 Sports Tournaments and Trophies, 23 stadiums, 5 airports and ports, 98 educational institutions, 51 different awards, 15 fellowship, 39 hospitals and medical institutions and about 100 roads are named after the Gandhi Nehru family. If all these are combined, then this number becomes 450. Apart from this, in 2012, it was revealed through an RTI that out of 58 central schemes and institutions running in the country at that time, the names of 27 are on the Gandhi Nehru family. Think who tried to stick the label of his name on this country?

During the slavery of the British, when most of the players in the Olympic Games from India were of British origin, then Major Dhyanchand made hockey the biggest pride of India. He won gold medals for the country in hockey in the 1928 and 1932 Olympic Games. In the Olympic Games of 1936, while being the captain of the hockey team, he gave India a gold medal.

So today you have to decide which side you are on. Are you with Major Dhyan Chand? Or are you with the tradition of naming everything as the Gandhi Nehru family?