Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award
Award Information
Type	Civilian
Category	Sports (Individual / Team)
Instituted	1991 - 1992
First Awarded	1991 - 1992
Awarded by	Government of India
Cash Award	750,000
Description	Highest sports-honor in India.
First Awardee(s)	Viswanathan Anand
Last Awardee(s)	Gagan Narang
Award Rank
← Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award → Arjuna Award

The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (RGKR) is India’s highest honour given for achievement in sports. The words "Khel Ratna" literally mean "Sports Gem" in Hindi. The award is named after the late Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India. It carries a medal, a scroll of honour and a substantial cash component. Up to 2004-05, the cash component was Rs. 500,000/- (c.11,500 USD).The money has been increased from Rs. 500,000 to Rs. 750,000.

The award was instituted in the year 1991-92 to supply the lack of a supreme national accolade in the field of sports. Predating the RGKR are the Arjuna awards that have always been given to outstanding sportspersons in each of many sporting disciplines every year. The Khel Ratna was devised to be an overarching honour, conferred for outstanding sporting performance, whether by an individual or a team, across all sporting disciplines in a given year.

List of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awardees

S.No.	Year	Name of the Sportsperson(s)	Sport Discipline
01	1991-92	Viswanathan Anand	Chess
02	1992-93	Geet Sethi	Billiards
03	1993-94	Not Conferred*	-
04	1994-95	Cdr. Homi D. Motivala (Joint)	Yachting (Team Event)
04	1994-95	Lt. Cdr. P. K. Garg (Joint)	Yachting (Team Event)
05	1995-96	Karnam Malleswari	Weightlifting
06	1996-97	Nameirakpam Kunjarani (Joint)	Weightlifting
06	1996-97	Leander Paes (Joint)	Tennis
07	1997-98	Sachin Tendulkar	Cricket
08	1998-99	Jyotirmoyee Sikdar	Athletics
09	1999–2000	Dhanraj Pillay	Hockey
10	2000-01	Pullela Gopichand	Badminton
11	2001-02	Abhinav Bindra	Shooting
12	2002-03	Anjali Ved Pathak Bhagwat(Joint)	Shooting
12	2002-03	K. M. Beenamol (Joint)	Athletics
13	2003-04	Anju Bobby George	Athletics
14	2004-05	Lt. Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore	Shooting
15	2005-06	Pankaj Advani	Billiards and Snooker
16	2006-07	Manavjit Singh Sandhu	Shooting
17	2007-08	Mahendra Singh Dhoni	Cricket
18	2008-09	Mary Kom (Joint)	Boxing
18	2008-09	Vijender Singh (Joint)	Boxing
18	2008-09	Sushil Kumar (Joint)	Wrestling
19	2009-10	Saina Nehwal	Badminton
20	2010-11	Gagan Narang	Shooting

• The award was not conferred upon any sportsperson or team in the year 1993-94.

References

• Government of India (2001-09-29). "President presents Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna and Dronacharya Awards". Press Information Bureau. http://pib.nic.in/archieve/lreleng/lyr2001/rsep2001/29092001/r290920012.html. Retrieved 2006-05-15. 
• WEBINDIA123.COM. "Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award Winners". http://www.webindia123.com/sports/awards/winraj.htm. Retrieved 2006-05-15. 
• Youth Affairs and Sports, Ministry of (2005-08-30). "List of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award Winners". NIC. Archived from the original on 2006-07-04. http://web.archive.org/web/20060704045548/http://yas.nic.in/yasroot/awards/rg_khelratna.htm. Retrieved 2006-05-15. 

External links

• Khel Ratna award 2007