On January 02 2025, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) announced the recipients of the National Sports Awards 2024 which will be conferred on 47 sportspersons, coaches, entities and universities under 6 categories on 17th January 2025 by the President of India, Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi (Delhi).
- The awards were recommended by the selection committee headed by Justice (Retd.) V Ramasubramanian of the Supreme Court (SC) along with eminent sports persons, sports journalists and sports administrators.
Key Highlights:
i.Olympic medallists Manu Bhaker, Harmanpreet Singh, Chess world champion Gukesh D and para-athlete Praveen Kumar were named as the recipients of the ‘Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna 2024 award’.
ii.Gukesh D became the youngest World Chess Champion at the 2024 Chess World Championship in Singapore. He is only the 2nd Indian after Viswanathan Anand to win the title.
iii.Harmanpreet Singh, one of the top drag-flickers in modern hockey led the Indian hockey team to its 2nd consecutive bronze medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
iv.Praveen Kumar won a silver medal at Tokyo 2020 and soared to victory in the men’s high jump T64 class at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, setting an Asian record with a 2.08meter (m) jump.
v.Manu Bhaker, 1st Indian woman to win an Olympic shooting medal, securing bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol event at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
vi.Chandigarh University (CU), Mohali (Punjab) won the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2024 for the record 17th time.
i.Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2024
Number of Awardees – 4
| Name of the Sportsperson | Discipline |
|---|---|
| Gukesh D | Chess |
| Harmanpreet Singh | Hockey |
| Praveen Kumar | Para-Athletics |
| Manu Bhaker | Shooting |
i.It is the highest sporting honour of India, given for the most outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson over a period of 4 years.
ii.It was formerly known as the ‘Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award’ and in August 2021, it was renamed as the ‘Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award’.
- Award – It comprises a medallion, a certificate, and a cash prize of Rs 25 Lakh each
- First Winner – Chess Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand
- Established – 1991-1992
ii.Arjuna Awards for outstanding performance in Sports and Games 2024
Number of Awardees – 32
| Name of the Sportsperson | Discipline |
|---|---|
| Jyothi Yarraji | Athletics |
| Annu Rani | Athletics |
| Nitu Ghanghas | Boxing |
| Saweety Boora | Boxing |
| Vantika Agrawal | Chess |
| Salima Tete | Hockey |
| Abhishek Nain | Hockey |
| Sanjay Rana | Hockey |
| Jarmanpreet Singh | Hockey |
| Sukhjeet Singh | Hockey |
| Rakesh Kumar | Para-Archery |
| Preeti Pal | Para-Athletics |
| Jeevanji Deepthi | Para-Athletics |
| Ajeet Singh | Para-Athletics |
| Sachin Sarjerao Khilari | Para-Athletics |
| Dharambir Nain | Para-Athletics |
| Pranav Soorma | Para-Athletics |
| H Hokato Sema | Para-Athletics |
| Simran Sharma | Para-Athletics |
| Navdeep Singh | Para-Athletics |
| Nitesh Kumar | Para-Badminton |
| Thulasimathi Murugesan | Para-Badminton |
|  Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan | Para-Badminton |
| Manisha Ramadass | Para-Badminton |
| Kapil Parmar | Para-Judo |
| Mona Agarwal | Para-Shooting |
| Rubina Francis | Para-Shooting |
| Swapnil Suresh Kusale | Shooting |
| Sarabjot Singh | Shooting |
| Abhay Singh | Squash |
| Sajan Prakash | Swimming |
| Aman Sehrawat | Wrestling |
i.It is the 2nd-highest sporting honour of India to acknowledge good performance over a period of the previous 4 years and for showing qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline.
‘Arjuna Award’ was the highest sporting honour of India before the introduction of the ‘Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna’ in 1991-1992.
- Award– It comprises a Bronze statuette of Arjuna, a Certificate, a Ceremonial Dress, and a Cash Prize of Rs 15 lakhÂ
- First Winner– 20 Sportspersons
- Established– 1961
iii.Arjuna Awards (Lifetime) for outstanding performance in Sports and Games 2024
Number of Awardees – 2
| Name of the Sportsperson | Discipline |
|---|---|
| Sucha Singh | Athletics |
| Murlikant Rajaram Petkar | Para-Swimming |
The Arjuna Award (Lifetime Achievement) acknowledges retired athletes who have not only excelled in their sporting careers but have also significantly contributed to promoting sports post-retirement.
iv.Dronacharya Award for outstanding coaches in Sports and Games 2024
Number of Awardees – 5 (3 in Regular Category & 2 in Lifetime Category)
Regular Category:
| Name of the Coach | Discipline |
|---|---|
| Â Subhash Rana | Para-Shooting |
| Deepali Deshpande | Shooting |
| Sandeep Sangwan | Hockey |
Lifetime Category:Â For coaches who have helped sportspersons to achieve excellence over a period of 20 years or more.
| Name of the Coach | Discipline |
|---|---|
| S Muralidharan | Badminton |
| Armando Agnelo Colaco | Football |
It is the sports coaching honour of India for the outstanding and meritorious work of coaches consistently and for enabling sportspersons to excel in international events.
- Award– It comprises a bronze statuette of Dronacharya, a Certificate, a Ceremonial dress, and a Cash prize of Rs 15 lakh for lifetime achievement and Rs 10 Lakh for regular.
- First Winner– Bhalchandra Bhaskar Bhagwat (Wrestling), Om Prakash Bhardwaj (Boxing), and Othayothu Madhavan Nambiar (Athletics) in the Regular Category. Athletics coach Kuntal Roy and Hockey coach Rajinder Singh in the Lifetime Category.
- Established– 1985 (Regular); 2011(Lifetime)
v.Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar
Number of Awardee – 1Â
| Name of the Entity |
|---|
| Physical Education Foundation of India |
It is given to corporate entities (both in private and public sector), Sports Control Boards, NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations), including sports bodies at the State and National level, who have played a visible role in the area of sports promotion and development.
- Award– A citation and a Trophy
- First Winners– Railways Sports Promotion Board, & Tata Steel
- Established-2009
vi.Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2024
Number of Awardees – 3
| Name of the University | Rank |
|---|---|
| Chandigarh University, Punjab | Overall winner University |
| Lovely Professional University, Punjab | 1st runner up University |
| Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab | 2nd runner up University |
The Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy is awarded to the top-performing university at the Khelo India University Games. This trophy recognizes institutions that foster talent and contribute significantly to sports development.
- Awards– A rolling MAKA trophy and a cash prize of Rs 15 LakhÂ
- First Winner-Bombay University, Mumbai
- Established– 1956-57
Recent Related News:
In November 2024, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MoYAS) announced the discontinuation of the Dhyan Chand Award for lifetime achievement and introduction of the Arjuna Award (Lifetime) with effect from 2024. Arjuna Award (Lifetime) has been introduced in place of Dhyan Chand Award to rationalise the various sporting honours of India.
- The ministry also announced that to recognize the Khelo India scheme, the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy will be given to the University for Overall Top Performance in Khelo India University Games.
About the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS):Â
Union Minister- Mansukh L. Mandaviya (Constituency- Porbandar, Gujarat)
Minister of State (MoS)– Raksha Nikhil Khadse (Constituency-Raver, Maharashtra)
