Sports ministry invites applications for National Sports Awards

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) has invited nominations and applications from eligible athletes, coaches and universities for the annual National Sports Awards for 2021.

The nominations for the awards will be accepted online.

Due to the pandemic last year, the sports ministry had allowed individual candidates to self-nominate and this year too the ministry will follow the same procedure due to the second wave of Covid-19 in India.

The National Sports Federations (NSFs) will also nominate athletes for top honours. 

In 2020, the selection panel nominated by the sports ministry awarded a whopping 74 athletes. 

There were unprecedented five for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna while 27 were recipients of Arjuna Award.

The sports ministry had also increased prize money for the awards last year. The recipients of the Khel Ratna were given Rs 25 lakh. In 2019, they were given Rs 7.5 lakh.

Arjuna awardees were given Rs 15 lakh each which was 10 lakh more than the previous year.

The cash award for Dronacharya Award (lifetime) was increased to Rs 15 lakh. Earlier, it was Rs 5 lakh. The regular Dronacharya awardees were given Rs 10 lakh instead of Rs 5 lakh.

Eligible candidates can get more information from the sports ministry's website.