With an aim to avoid controversies during the naming of athletes for National Sports Awards, the government today issued guidelines, incorporating a number of conditions to make the selection process transparent and time-bound.
The Standard Operating Procedure issued by the Sports Ministry said that only authorised signatories should send the nominations, and sportspersons penalised or against whom enquiry is pending/ongoing for use of drugs/substances will not be eligible for the awards.
A copy of the nominations will be sent to the concerned NSF for verification of the details and achievements stated in the form and for checking if the sportsperson has ever been warned/penalised for any unfair practice like age fraud/sexual harassment, doping etc.
All details in this regard, if any, will have to be given by the NSF along with the verification report, the Ministry said.
"The authorised signatory for sending nominations will be: Indian Olympic Association - President/Secretary General, National Sports Federations - President/Secretary General (In the case of cricket, there is no federation recognised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Nominations for cricket will need to be sent by President/ Secretary General of the BCCI).
"State/ UT Governments/ Sports Control/ Promotion Boards - An officer of not less than the rank of Secretary or Director (Sports) of the organisation after taking due approval of the competent authority. Sports Authority of India-Director General/Secretary," the released stated.
In order to avoid embarrassing situations like that of Renjith Maheshwary's case last year when just hours before the Awards function, the Ministry had to hold the triple jumper's Arjuna award following a "detailed investigation" for a failed dope test, it has been decided to include undertakings in the application form for the award.
