The union sports ministry on Thursday announced that it will discontinue the Dhyan Chand Award for lifetime achievement from this year onwards and instead will introduce the Arjuna Award Lifetime in its place in a bid to “rationalise” the various sporting honours of the country.
The Dhyan Chand Lifetime Award were first given away in 2002 and the award was named after legendary hockey player Major Dhyan Chand given to individuals in disciplines that are part of the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, among others.
In 2023, the award was given to former shuttler Manjusha Kanwar, ex-hockey exponent Vineet Kumar and kabaddi player Kavitha Selvaraj.
“The various schemes for sports awards have been rationalised wherein Arjuna Award (Lifetime) has been introduced in place of Dhyan Chand Award. To recognise the efforts of coaches at grassroots/development level, they are now eligible for the Dronacharya Award,” said a ministry statement.
“The Arjuna Award (Lifetime) has been introduced and will be given for life time contribution to sports development.
“Further, to recognize the Khelo India scheme, the Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy will be given to the University for Overall Top Performance in Khelo India University Games,” it added.
