Hyderabad: For the first time in the history of National Sports Awards, the prestigious laurel was conducted virtually on 29 August.
The National Sports Awards include the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, the Arjuna Award, the Dronacharya Award and the Dhyan Chand Award.
An unusually large number of sportspersons and coaches -- 74 -- were conferred India's most prestigious National Sports Awards virtually on Saturday morning by President Ram Nath Kovind, though 14 of them missed the event for different reasons, including coronavirus.
The annual ceremony, which is staged at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on hockey Wizard Dhyan Chand's birth anniversary on August 29, attracts a lot of eyeballs due to its tradition. A who's who of Indian sports fraternity and top politicians gather under one roof on this occasion.
Unlike any other year, on this National Sports Day awardees did not make the customary walk on the red carpet inside Rashtrapati Bhawan's Durbar Hall, but it was held at chosen 76 Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre and other venues closest to them from, where they were connected to the President at his residence.
The awardees attended the ceremony from various places across the country - Bengaluru, Pune, Sonepat, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Lucknow, Delhi, Mumbai, Bhopal, Hyderabad and Itanagar.
Meanwhile, Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday announced an enhancement in the prize money in four of the seven categories of the National Sports Awards.
Rijiju made this announcement on the occasion of the 115th birth anniversary of hockey legend Dhyan Chand, which is also celebrated as National Sports Day.
The prize money for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award has been increased to Rs 25 lakh from the previous amount of Rs 7.5 lakh; Arjuna Award has been enhanced to Rs 15 lakh from Rs 5 lakh; the Dhronacharya (Lifetime) awardees, who were earlier given Rs 5 lakh will now be given Rs 15 lakh as cash prize; while Dhronacharya (Regular) will be given Rs 10 lakh instead of Rs 5 lakh per awardee. Dhyanchand awardees will be given Rs 10 lakh instead of Rs 5 lakh.
