Bharat Ratna Eligibility Criteria to Undergo Amendment to Honour Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkay: Changing Rules

To honour Sachin Tendulkar with the the country’s highest civilian award- Bharat Ratna- for which sports persons are currently ineligible, the Indian Government is considering changing the eligibility criteria for the award.

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Mullappally Ramachandran, told the upper house of parliament on Wednesday that suggestion regarding modification in the existing eligibility norms for the award have been received and are under consideration.

The announcement in Rajya Sabha was a follow up of Union Sports Minister Ajay Maken’s letter to the Home Ministry last month, voicing his intention to amend the criteria that would make sportsperson like Tendulkar eligible for the award.

After more than 20 years of performing at the highest level of the game, the call for Sachin to be honoured with “Bharat Ratna” intensified specially after his record breaking performance in both test and one day cricket. He is, without a doubt, the most successful cricketer in the world.

Tendulkar, 38, holds the world record for scoring maximum runs in two formats of the game (14,810 in Tests and 18,111 in one-dayers) and most centuries (51 in Tests and 48 in one-dayers). He is just one century shy of making 100 centuries, which the entire nation is hoping to see in the ongoing India’s tour of England.

The 1955 formulated criteria, when sports were in its baby days in India, did not consider sports person eligible for the award. It includes only people with exceptional services in arts, literature and science, and in recognition of public services of the highest order eligible for the award.

However with the changing scenario, the 56 years old criteria needs to be amended to accommodate exceptional sportsperson and people in other fields eligible for the award.