Sehwag, Sardar in selection panel for National Sports Awards 2020

New Delhi: 2011 World Cup winning former Indian cricketer VirenderSehwag, former hockey midfielder Sardar Singh, 2016 Rio Paralympics silver medallistDeepa Malik are among the names that make up the selection committee for the National Sports Awards this year, the Sports Ministry announced on Friday.

The committee, to be chaired by retired Supreme Court judge Mukundakam Sharma, also includes Arjuna Award winning former table tennis player MonalisaBaruah and former boxer VenkateshDevarajan, who won the Arjuna Award in 1995.

"This year too we are continuing with the idea of one selection committee for all the awards as we feel too many committees will only make things difficult and create controversies," a Sports Ministry source told PTI.

The committee will be tasked with selecting awardees for the Rajiv Gandhi KhelRatna, Dronacharya Awards, Arjuna Awards, Dhyan Chand Awards, RashtriyaKhelProtsahanPuruskar Award and MaulanaAbulKalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy for the year 2020. Officials from the Sports Ministry on the committee include Sports Authority of India (SAI) Director General SandipPradhan, Joint Secretary (Sports Development) LS Singh and Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) CEO Commander Rajesh Rajagopalan.

The mediapersons on the committee are sports commentator Manish Batavia and journalists AlokSinha and Neeru Bhatia. Two additional members, who have been Dronacharya Awardees, may be invited by the chairperson while considering the nomination for Dronacharya Award. The national sports awards are given away every year on August 29, the birth anniversary of hockey icon Dhyan Chand.

This year the awards function might be delayed by a month or two because of the COVID-19 pandemic but a final decision on the matter is still awaited.