Dronacharya Award

The Dronacharya Award, officially known as Dronacharya Award for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games,[1] is sports coaching honour of the Republic of India. The award is named after Drona, often referred as "Dronacharya" or "Guru Drona", a character from the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata of ancient India.[2] He was master of advanced military warfare and was appointed as the royal preceptor to the Kaurava and the Pandava princes for their training in military arts and astras (Divine weapons).[3] It is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Recipients are selected by a committee constituted by the Ministry and are honoured to have done "outstanding and meritorious work on a consistent basis and enabled sportspersons to excel in international events" over a period of four years. Two awards are designated for the lifetime contribution in coaching where the achievements in producing "outstanding sportspersons" over a period of 20 years or more are considered. As of 2020, the award comprises a bronze statuette of Dronacharya, a certificate, ceremonial dress, and a cash prize of ₹15 lakh (US$19,000).[lower-alpha 1][1]

Dronacharya award
Civilian award for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games
Awarded forSports coaching honour in India
Sponsored byGovernment of India
Reward(s)15 lakh
First awarded1985
Last awarded2022
Highlights
Total awarded136
First winner

Instituted in 1985,[5] the award is given only to the disciplines included in the events like Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, World Championship and World Cup along with Cricket, Indigenous Games, and Parasports.[1] The nominations for a given year are accepted till 30 April or last working day of April. A ten-member committee evaluates the nominations and later submits their recommendations to the Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports for further approval.[1]

The first recipients of the award were Bhalchandra Bhaskar Bhagwat (Wrestling), Om Prakash Bhardwaj (Boxing), and O. M. Nambiar (Athletics), who were honoured in 1985.[6] Usually conferred upon not more than five coaches in a year, a few exceptions have been made (2012 and 2016–2020) when more recipients were awarded in a year.[7]

Nominations

The nominations for the award are received from all government recognised National Sports Federations, the Indian Olympic Association, the Sports Authority of India, the Sports Promotion and Control Boards, and the state and the union territory governments with not more than two eligible coaches nominated for each sports discipline. In case of cricket, the nominations are received from the Board of Control for Cricket in India as there is no National Sports Federation recognised by the Government. The Sports Authority of India (SAI) is authorised to submit the nominations on behalf of all the de-recognised or under suspension National Sports Federations. The previous award recipients of Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award, Dronacharya Award, and Dhyan Chand Award can also nominate one coach for the discipline for which they themselves were awarded. The Government can nominate up to two coaches in deserving cases where no such nominations have been received from the nominating authorities. The nominations for a given year are accepted till 30 April or last working day of April.[1]

Selection process

All the received nominations are sent to SAI and concerned National Sports Federations for verification against the claimed achievements. The National Anti-Doping Agency is responsible for providing the doping clearance. Any coach associated with a sportsperson who is either penalised or being investigated for use of drugs or substances banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency is not eligible for the award along with the previous award recipients of Dhyan Chand Award. A committee consisting of the Joint Secretary and the Director/Deputy Secretary of Department of Sports, the Secretary and the Executive Director/Director (TEAMS) of SAI verify and validate the nominations.[1]

The valid nominations are considered by a selection committee constituted by the Government. This eleven members committee consists of a Chairperson nominated by the Ministry, two members who are either Olympians or previous recipients of the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna or the Arjuna Award, three previous recipients of the Dronacharya Award of different sports disciplines, two sports journalists/experts/commentators, one sports administrator, the Director General of SAI, and the Joint Secretary of Department of Sports, with not more than one sportsperson from any particular discipline being included in the committee.[1] The medals won in various International championships and events in disciplines included in Summer and Winter Olympic and Paralympics Games, Asian Games, and Commonwealth Games are given 80% weightage. The remaining 20% weightage is given to the profile and standard of the events where their trainees have won the medals. For any other games not included in Olympic, Asian Games, and Commonwealth Games like cricket and indigenous games, individual performances are taken into consideration. Coach with maximum points is given 80 marks, while the remaining coaches are given marks in proportion to the maximum points. For team events, marks are given per the strength of the team.[1] Following are the points defined for medals at the given events:

Points given to coach for winning medals by their trainee during the last four years
 Gold  Silver  Bronze
Olympic Games/Paralympic Games 807055
World Championship/World Cup[lower-alpha 2] 403020
Asian Games 302520
Commonwealth Games 252015

For a given discipline, not more than two coaches, one male and one female, are given highest marks. The committee may not recommend the award to the coach with the highest marks across disciplines but can only recommend the recipient of the highest aggregate marks in a particular sports discipline. The recommendations of the selection committee are submitted to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports for further approval.[1]

Recipients
Key
   § Indicates Para sports
   # Indicates a posthumous honour
List of award recipients, showing the year and discipline(s)
Year Recipient(s) Discipline(s) Refs.
1985 Bhalachandra Bhaskar Bhagwat Wrestling [8]
1985 Om Prakash Bhardwaj Boxing [8]
1985 O. M. Nambiar Athletics [8]
1986 Desh Prem Azad Cricket [8]
1986 Raghunandan Vasant Gokhle Chess [8]
1987 Guru Hanuman Wrestling [8]
1987 Gurcharan Singh Cricket [8]
1988 No award [8]
1989 No award [8]
1990 Ramakant Achrekar Cricket [8]
1990 Syed Naeemuddin Football [8]
1990 A. Ramana Rao Volleyball [8]
1991 No award [8]
1992 No award [8]
1993 No award [8]
1994 Ilyas Babar Athletics [8]
1995 Shyam Sunder Rao Volleyball [8]
1995 Karan Singh Athletics [8]
1996 Wilson Jones Billiards & Snooker [8]
1996 Pal Singh Sandhu Weightlifting [8]
1997 Joginder Singh Saini Athletics [8]
1998 G. S. Sandhu Boxing [9]
1998 Hargobind Singh Sandhu Athletics [9]
1998 Bahadur Singh Chouhan Athletics [9]
1999 Kenneth Owen Bosen Athletics [10]
1999 Hawa Singh# Boxing [10]
1999 Ajay Kumar Sirohi Weightlifting [10]
2000 S. M. Arif Badminton [11]
2000 Gudial Singh Bhangu Hockey [11]
2000 Bhupender Dhawan Powerlifting [11]
2000 Gopal Purushottam Phadke Kho kho [11]
2000 Hansa Sharma Weightlifting [11]
2001 Michael Ferreira Billiards & Snooker [12]
2001 Sunny Thomas Shooting [12]
2002 Maharaj Krishan Kaushik Hockey [13]
2002 Renu Kohli Athletics [13]
2002 Homi Motivala Yachting [13]
2002 E. Prasad Rao Kabaddi [13]
2002 Jaswant Singh Athletics [13]
2003 Sukhchain Singh Cheema Wrestling [14]
2003 Robert Bobby George Athletics [14]
2003 Anoop Kumar Boxing [14]
2003 Rajinder Singh Jr. Hockey [14]
2004 Cyrus Poncha Squash [15]
2004 Arvind Savur Billiards & Snooker [15]
2004 Sunita Sharma Cricket [15]
2005 Ismail Baig Rowing [16]
2005 Maha Singh Rao Wrestling [16]
2005 Balwan Singh Kabaddi [16]
2005 M. Venu Boxing [16]
2006 Koneru Ashok Chess [17]
2006 Damodaran Chandralal Boxing [17]
2006 R. D. Singh Athletics [17]
2007 Jagdish Singh Boxing [18]
2007 Jagminder Singh Wrestling [18]
2007 Sanjeeva Kumar Singh Archery [18]
2007 G. E. Sridharan Volleyball [18]
2008 No award [8]
2009 Jaydev Bisht Boxing [19]
2009 Pullela Gopichand Badminton [19]
2009 S. Baldev Singh Hockey [19]
2009 Satpal Singh Wrestling [19]
2010 Subhash Agarwal Billiards & Snooker [20]
2010 Ajay Kumar Bansal Hockey [20]
2010 Captain Chandrup Wrestling [20]
2010 A. K. Kutty Athletics [20]
2010 L Ibomcha Singh Boxing [20]
2011 Devender Kumar Rathore Gymnastics [21]
2011 Ramphal Wrestling [21]
2011 Inukurthi Venkateshwara Roy Boxing [21]
2012 Sunil Dabas Kabaddi [22]
2012 B. I. Fernandez Boxing [22]
2012 Virender Poonia Athletics [22]
2012 Satyapal Singh Athletics§ [22]
2012 Harendra Singh Hockey [22]
2012 Yashvir Singh Wrestling [22]
2013 Purnima Mahato Archery [23]
2013 Narender Singh Saini Hockey [23]
2013 Mahavir Singh Boxing [23]
2014 Mahabir Prasad Wrestling [24]
2015 Anoop Singh Dahiya Wrestling [25]
2015 Naval Singh Athletics§ [25]
2016 Sagar Mal Dhayal Boxing [26]
2016 Bishweshwar Nandi Gymnastics [26]
2016 Nagapuri Ramesh Athletics [26]
2016 Rajkumar Sharma Cricket [26]
2017 R. Gandhi# Athletics [7]
2017 Heera Nand Kataria Kabaddi [7]
2018 Subedar Chenanda Achaiah Kuttappa Boxing [27]
2018 Vijay Sharma Weightlifting [27]
2018 A. Srinivasa Rao Table Tennis [27]
2018 Sukhdev Singh Pannu Athletics [27]
2019 Mohinder Singh Dhillon Athletics [28]
2019 U. Vimal Kumar Badminton [28]
2019 Sandip Gupta Table Tennis [28]
2020 Jude Sebastian Hockey [29]
2020 Yogesh Malviya Mallakhamb [29]
2020 Jaspal Rana Shooting [29]
2020 Kuldeep Kumar Handoo Wushu [29]
2020 Gaurav Khanna Badminton§ [29]
2021 Radhakrishnan Nair Athletics [30]
2021 Sandhya Gurung Boxing [30]
2021 Pritam Siwach Hockey [30]
2021 Jai Prakash Nautiyal Shooting§ [30]
2021 Subramanian Raman Table Tennis [30]
2022 Jiwanjot Singh Teja Archery [31]
2022 Mohammed Ali Qamar Boxing [31]
2022 Suma Shirur Shooting§ [31]
2022 Sujeet Maan Wrestling [31]
List of lifetime award recipients, showing the year and discipline(s)
Year Lifetime Recipient(s) Discipline(s) Refs.
2011 Kuntal Kumar Roy Athletics [21]
2011 Rajinder Singh Jr. Hockey [21]
2012 Jasvinder Singh Bhatia Athletics [22]
2012 Bhawani Mukherjee Table Tennis [22]
2013 Raj Singh Wrestling [23]
2013 K. P. Thomas Athletics [23]
2014 Gurcharan Gogi Judo [24]
2014 Jose Jacob Rowing [24]
2014 N. Lingappa Athletics [24]
2014 Ganapathy Manoharan Boxing [24]
2015 Nihar Ameen Swimming [25]
2015 Harbans Singh Athletics [25]
2015 Swatantar Raj Singh Boxing [25]
2016 S. Pradeep Kumar Swimming [26]
2016 Mahavir Singh Phogat Wrestling [26]
2017 G. S. S. V. Prasad Badminton [7]
2017 Brij Bhushan Mohanty Boxing [7]
2017 P. A. Raphel Hockey [7]
2017 Sanjoy Chakraverty Shooting [7]
2017 Roshan Lal Wrestling [7]
2018 Clarence Lobo Hockey [27]
2018 Tarak Sinha Cricket [27]
2018 Jiwan Kumar Sharma Judo [27]
2018 V. R. Beedu Athletics [27]
2019 Rambir Singh Khokar Kabaddi [28]
2019 Sanjay Bhardwaj Cricket [28]
2019 Merzban Patel Hockey [28]
2020 Dharmendra Tiwary Archery [29]
2020 Purushotham Rai Athletics [29]
2020 Shiv Singh Boxing [29]
2020 Romesh Pathania Hockey [29]
2020 Krishan Kumar Hooda Kabaddi [29]
2020 Vijay Bhalchandra Munishwar Powerlifting§ [29]
2020 Naresh Kumar Tennis [29]
2020 Om Parkash Dahiya Wrestling [29]
2021 T. P. Ouseph Athletics [30]
2021 Sarkar Talwar Cricket [30]
2021 Sarpal Singh Hockey [30]
2021 Ashan Kumar Kabaddi [30]
2021 Tapan Kumar Panigrahi Swimming [30]
2022 Dinesh Jawahar Lad Cricket [31]
2022 Bimal Prafulla Ghosh Football [31]
2022 Raj Singh Wrestling [31]

Controversies

Some of the recipients have been accused of falsely claiming the achievements of the medalist under their names. Satpal Singh (2009), Ramphal (2011), and Yashvir Singh (2012) had mentioned two times Olympic medal winning wrestler Sushil Kumar (2008 and 2012) as their trainee.[32] The award for year 2012 was bestowed upon para sports athletics coach Satyapal Singh. However, 2010 Arjuna Award winning para athlete Jagseer Singh accused Satyapal Singh for falsely mentioning him as their trainee for the award. Jagseer Singh mentioned that 2006 Dronacharya Award winner R. D. Singh was appointed as the main coach and Satyapal Singh was an assisting coach. Jagseer was informed about such claim via Right to Information Act, 2005 which had him mentioned as the primary trainee by Satyapal Singh.[33] 2013 award winner Raj Singh also claimed Sushil Kumar and 2012 Summer Olympics medal winning wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt as their trainee.[34] Following an announcement, in August 2015, a Public-Interest Litigation was filed in the Delhi High Court by Vinod Kumar. The petitioner, former chief wrestling coach, mentioned that he was the chief national coach of men's freestyle wrestling team from November 2010 to April 2015 and claimed that he had more points (420) than the recipient Anoop Singh Dahiya (375). The court directed the Ministry to confer the award on Kumar and provided one week to the Ministry to challenge the decision. However, the Ministry did not change their decision as the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) had sacked Kumar in May 2015.[35]

Explanatory notes
  1. The cash prize was revised from ₹5 lakh (US$6,300) to ₹25 lakh (US$31,000) in 2020.[4]
  2. A World Championship/World Cup is generally organised every four years. For different cyclicities, proportionate marks are given.

References
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  2. "Dronacharya award". Sports Logon. 2017. Archived from the original on 21 June 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  3. Gupta, Ajay (2016). Word of God Bhagavad Gita. Notion Press. p. 258. ISBN 978-1-945497-74-2. Archived from the original on 17 February 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2017.: 14 
  4. "Khel Ratna awardees to receive 25 lakh, 15 lakh for Arjuna awardees". The Indian Express. 29 August 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
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  8. "List of Dronacharya Awardees". Sports Authority of India. Archived from the original on 7 January 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  9. "Arjun Awards 1998 announced Ms. Jyotirmoyee Sikdar gets Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 1998–99" (Press release). Press Information Bureau, India. Archived from the original on 26 April 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
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  17. "President gives away Arjuna Awards and Dronacharya Awards" (Press release). Press Information Bureau, India. 29 August 2007. Archived from the original on 26 April 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
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  24. "National Sports Awards 2014" (Press release). Press Information Bureau, India. 21 August 2014. Archived from the original on 26 April 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
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