THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF YOUTH AFFAIRS AND SPORTS (SHRI PON. RADHAKIRISHNAN)
(a) & (b) : Yes, Sir. Under the scheme of `Special Awards to Winners in International Sports Events and Their Coaches`, Special Awards are given every year to the winners in the (1) Olympics Games and Official World Championships; (2) Asian and Commonwealth Games; and (3) Official Asian and Commonwealth Championships. Special Awards given during the last 3 years are as under :
Year No. of Awardees
1999 176
2000 249
2001 212
Special Awards for the year 2002 will be given after the closure of the current year i.e.2002. Cash awards are not given for winning medals in National level sports events.
(c) A statement is at annexure - I.
ANNEXURE - I
ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART(c) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3690 FOR 16.04.2002 REGARDING CRITERIA FOR REWARDING SPORTS PERSONS
The criteria laid down for conferring various categories of sports awards on sports persons in the country are as under:
1. ARJUNA AWARD
To be eligible for the Arjuna Award, a person should have had not only good performance consistently for the previous three years at the National / International level with excellence for the year for which the Award is recommended but also should have shown qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and sense of discipline. Govt of India will also consider giving Awards to such sports persons who have contributed their life time to sports and sports promotion.
2. SPECIAL AWARDS TO WINNERS IN INTERNATIONAL SPORTS EVENTS AND THEIR COACHES
The special awards are available only for winning medals and titles in prestigious international sports events in the disciplines of sports given below, where the competition is fierce and the players enter into the fray with burning desire to excels and, therefore, the medals are hard to come by. The other discipline of sports and events have been consciously excluded to ensure that really deserving achievements are awarded :
i) Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games disciplines;
ii) Billiards and Snooker;
iii) Chess.
3. RAJIV GANDHI KHEL RATNA AWARDS
The spectacular and most outstanding performances in the field of sports by the sportspersons in a year shall be honoured with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. There will be only one award every year to be given either to an individual sportsperson or to more than one person in case of team event. If a team is selected for the Award, all the members of the team shall get the Award as envisaged for team events i. e. no member of the team will get less than 50% of the award money prescribed for.
4. MAULANA ABUL KALAM AZAD TROPHY
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy :- This trophy is given annually to the University which has given the best all-round performance in the year.
5. DRONACHARYA AWARD
The award shall be open to coaches whether they work full time or part time as coaches, the primary and fundamental emphasis being on honouring such coaches as have produced outstanding achievements in the year for which the award is given and, consistently, very good achievements during the three years previous to the year of the award.
Government of India will also consider giving award to such coaches, who have contributed their life time to sports and sports promotion.`
2. The achievement of a coach to be eligible for the award shall be judged as follows :
2 (a) Individual Events
A coach shall be eligible who produces a sportsperson :
(i) who wins any medal i.e. gold/silver/bronze in the Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup tournaments for Olympic disciplines; or
(ii) who wins any medal i.e. gold/silver/bronze in the World Cup or World Championships in non-Olympic disciplines; or
(iii) who creates a world record which is ratified by the concerned international sports federation; or
(iv) who wins two gold medals in either Asian Games or the Commonwealth Games; or
(v) who wins three gold medals in Asian Championships or Commonwealth Championships.
A National coach who brings up a contingent of sportspersons which gives in individual events a performance better than that compared to the previous best as judged by the tally of medals (gold and total) won whether in the Olympics Games, World Championships, Commonwealth Games, Commonwealth Championships, Asian Games and Asian Championships.
2 (b) Team Events
A coach shall be eligible if he is responsible for training teams which win :
(i) Any medal; gold, silver or bronze in the Olympic Games, World Cup or World Championships in Olympic or non-Olympic disciplines, provided that the performance is either better or equal to the best performance achieved earlier; or
(ii) 2 gold medal- one in Asian Games and another in Asian Championships held earlier or later; or
(iii) 2 gold medals- one in Asian Games and the other in Commonwealth Games held either earlier or later.
2 (c) Indigenous Sports
A coach who is responsible for outstanding improvement in the performance of individuals or a team as compared with such performance in the previous three years and through whose coaching a team obtains winning position, shall also be eligible for the award.
