Sports Awards in our Country

The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award is one of the awards that is being conferred in the memory of Late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. It is one of the most prestigious and of the highest rank National Sports Award in India. Started at the beginning of the exotic year 1991, this award was given for boosting the morale and confidence of the players.

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award is earlier presented by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to the young players for their exceptional performance in sports in India. Up to that year of 2004, the recipients of the award were also provided a cash prize of Rs. 5 lakhs, which was then increased to Rs. 7.5 lakhs in the midst of the year 2005. A medal and citation were also given along with the cash prize to the player.
The first recipient of the award was Vishwanathan Anand in 1991-1992.

Karnam Malleswari was the first ever woman who was at that time conferred by Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna for weightlifting in the year 1994-1995.
other than that, Pankaj Advani is the only player to have received this award for two different games- Snookers and Billiards.

Arjuna Awards 2019
Conferred by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, this (Arjuna Award) is the oldest National Sports award in India which was earlier instituted in the year 1961. This award has been given to a person who has been consistent and has exhibited an outstanding performance for four years in national and international games (including Olympics, Asian Games, and Commonwealth Games).

The award is named after “Arjuna” who is a famous archer dating back to the times of the epic Mahabharata. All the recipients of the Arjuna award are provided a bronze statue of Arjuna and a scroll along with five lakh rupees cash prize.

By: Prerana Sharma

Content: https://www.mapsofindia.com/my-india/government/list-of-major-national-sports-awards-in-india