‘Respecting the sentiments of citizens across the country,’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award would henceforth be renamed as the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The Khel Ratna Award is the highest athletic honour in the country.
‘I have been getting many requests from citizens across India to name the Khel Ratna Award after Major Dhyan Chand. I thank them for their views. Respecting their sentiment, the Khel Ratna Award will hereby be called the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award! Jai Hind!’ PM Modi tweeted.
I have been getting many requests from citizens across India to name the Khel Ratna Award after Major Dhyan Chand. I thank them for their views.
Respecting their sentiment, the Khel Ratna Award will hereby be called the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award!
Jai Hind! pic.twitter.com/zbStlMNHdq
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 6, 2021
The Khel Ratna award was established in 1991-1992 and the chess legend Viswanathan Anand was the inaugural recipient. Leander Paes, Sachin Tendulkar, Dhanraj Pillay, Pullela Gopichand, Abhinav Bindra, Anju Bobby George, Mary Kom and Rani Rampal were among the other winners.
The award, currently known as the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna, carries a monetary reward of Rs 25 lakh.
Major Dhyan Chand, a field hockey player known as The Wizard, played international hockey from 1926 to 1949, scoring over 400 goals in his career. An Allahabad native, Dhyan Chand was also a member of the Olympic gold-medal winning team in 1928, 1932 and 1936.
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Apart from the Khel Ratna, the Dhyan Chand Award is the country’s highest honour for lifetime accomplishment in sports. It was established in the year 2002. The National Stadium in New Delhi had also renamed as the Dhyan Chand National Stadium in 2002.
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