Rijiju announces hike in National Sports awards

Sports minister Kiren Rijiju announced a massive hike in the prize money for the National Sports Awards on the occasion of National Sports Day on Saturday .

Sports minister Kiren Rijiju paying his respects to Major Dhyan Chand on the occasion of National Sports Day.

Sports minister Kiren Rijiju announced an enhancement in the prize money in four of the seven categories of the National Sports and Adventure Awards.

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, while 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, 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.

Speaking about the decision, Rijiju said, “The prize money for the Sports Awards was last reviewed in 2008. These amounts should be reviewed once every 10 years at least. If professionals in every field have seen an enhancement in their earnings, why not our sportspersons.”