Odisha govt recommends Pramod Bhagat, para shuttler, for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award

The Odisha Government has recommended the name of para-badminton player Pramod Bhagat for the country's highest sporting honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for the year 2021. The state also recommended the name of the Indian women's hockey team's vice-captain, Deep Grace Ekka for the Arjuna Award. The names were recommended by the Department of Sports and Youth Services (DSYS) to the sports ministry.

In a post on Twitter, they announced their recommendations saying "DSYS has recommended the names of #Odia para shuttler @PramodBhagat83 and current @TheHockeyIndia's vice-captain Deep Grace Ekka for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and Arjuna Award respectively, for the year 2021. Good luck to both!

When Pramod Bhagat was five years old, he developed a defect on his left leg however that never stopped him from becoming a top-level para-athlete. He has won the gold medal in men's singles at the BWF Para-Badminton World Championships 2019 event and the 2015 event. Bhagat has also won gold at the Men's singles Asian Para Games in Indonesia in 2018.

The DSYS had previously recommended ace sprinter Dutee Chand for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, Olympic-bound Indian vice-captain Birendra Lakra for the Arjuna Award, hockey coach Kalucharan Choudhury for the Dronacharya Award and former sprinter and Olympian Anuradha Biswal for the Dhyan Chand Award.

Change in submission dates for recommendations

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports had earlier decided to extend the last date of submission of application for the upcoming National Sports Awards 2021. Besides recommendations from the national federations, athletes can also nominate themselves through online applications. The last date for submission is now July 5, whereas initially, it had been June 21. The nominations/applications from the eligible sportspersons/ coaches/ entities/ universities were invited for the award and they were to be e-mailed, as per an official statement from the ministry.

National Sports Awards commemorate Dhyan Chand's birth anniversary

The national sports awards are given away every year on August 29 to mark the birth anniversary of Indian hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand as the National Sports Day.

In 2020, five athletes were awarded the Khel Ratna award for the first time in the same year: Manika Batra, Vinesh Phogat, Mariyappan Phangavelu, Rani Rampal, and Rohit Sharma were the recipients.

(Image Credits: @PramodBhagat83/Twitter)