National Sports Awards: Sehwag, Sardar in 12-member selection panel
Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag and hockey stalwart Sardar Singh have been included in a 12-member committee constituted by the sports ministry to select this year's National Sports Awards winners. Besides the duo, Paralympic silver-medallist Deepa Malik is also a part of the panel. Supreme Court Justice (Retd) Mukundakam Sharma had been appointed by the ministry as the Chairman of Committee.
Just like last year, the ministry opted for a single selection committee to pick the awardees among both athletes and coaches. "This year too we are continuing with the idea of one selection committee for all the awards as we feel too many committees will only make things difficult and create controversies," a sports ministry source told PTI.
The other members of the committee include former table tennis player Monalisa Baruah Mehta, boxer Venkatesan Devarajan, sports commentator Manish Batavia and journalists Alok Sinha and Neeru Bhatia. The panel will also have representation from the sports ministry, including Sports Authority of India Director General Sandip Pradhan, Joint Secretary (Sports Development) L S Singh and Target Olympic Podium Scheme CEO Rajesh Rajagopalan.
Meanwhile, two former Dronacharya awardees will be invited to consider the nomination for this category. "Two additional members who have been Dronacharya awardees may be invited by the Chairperson while considering the nomination for Dronacharya Award," a sports ministry release stated.
The National Sports Awards are given away every year on August 29, the birth anniversary of hockey icon Dhyan Chand. This year the awards function might be delayed by a few months because of the coronavirus pandemic. A final decision on the same is awaited.
