Paralympics silver medalist Devendra Jhajharia included in National Sports Awards selection committee

Javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia, a three-time Paralympic medalist, has been included in the National Sports Awards selection committee as announced on Wednesday. He is amongst the 11 high-profile names picked to select this year’s recipients for the prestigious awards.

Jhajharia won a silver medal at the recent Tokyo Games, adding to the two gold medals he had won in the 2004 and 2016 editions.

Former cricketer Venkatesh Prasad, former world champion boxer L Sarita Devi, hockey coach Baldev Singh, decorated former shooter Anjali Bhagwat and former women’s cricket team captain Anjum Chopra are other sportspeople in the National Sports Awards Committee.

Retired Supreme Court judge Mukundakum Sharma has been picked as the chairperson, the sports ministry stated.

The selection committee also includes Sports Authority of India Director General Sandip Pradhan, and senior journalists Vijay Lokapally and Vikrant Gupta.

The National Sports Awards selection committee will have a meeting in the next few days to decide the winners. This year’s awards was postponed after the government decided to wait for India’s performance at both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The country notched up historic results in both the events with an unprecedented seven medals in the Olympics, followed by a record haul of 19 - including five golds - at the Paralympics.

Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra was the headline grabber of the Olympics with a historic gold.

Everything you need to know about National Sports Awards

The highest honor for sportsmen in India is the Khel Ratna award, which was rechristened from Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna to Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna this year, followed by the Arjuna award.

The Khel Ratna carries prize money of ₹25 lakh, while Arjuna comes with a prize money of ₹15 lakh.

For coaches, there is the Dronacharya award. The National Sports awards also include the Lifetime Achievement award, the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar and the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) trophy for the year 2021.