Times of India: New delhi:
Saturday, September 21, 2013.
Sportspersons
would have continued to be denied India's highest civilian honour, Bharat
Ratna, if bureaucrats had their way. File notings, accessed through RTI, reveal
that the home ministry was initially not in favour of widening the scope of
Bharat Ratna fearing that it would open floodgates for sportspersons and other
vocations like social work, trade and industry as well.
The
government eventually reversed its decision and amended the qualification for
the decoration from "exceptional service towards the advancement of art,
literature and science, and in recognition of public service of the highest
order" to "decoration shall be awarded for exceptional service in any
field" in November, 2011.
According to
documents received in response to an RTI filed by activist S C Agrawal the home
ministry officials felt that inclusion of sports as a category may raise the
issue of other fields of work to be added. In its note, a ministry official
argued for keeping the norms unchanged, "The reason behind inclusion of
sports as a field of Bharat Ratna is to honour Shri Sachin Tendulkar. No doubt
Shri Tendulkar deserves the highest recognition of the country but there are
several other sportsperson who have made the country proud such as Major Dhyan
Chand in hockey, Jaspal Rana in shooting, Vishwanathan Anand in chess, P T Usha
in athletics and many more."
Later, this
view was overruled by senior officials and then home minister P Chidambaram who
voiced the opinion that "Bharat Ratna be considered a decoration for
advancement in any field instead of a limited number and be qualified to
include only exceptional cases." The view was also endorsed by PM Manmohan
Singh and President Pratibha Patil.
The issue
came up after sports minister Ajay Maken sought conferment of the honour for
Tendulkar. In a letter written in April 2011 Maken said that sports acted as a
binding force in a pluralistic society and helped nurture national pride.
"It has become one of the most potent tools of involving youth and citizen
away from divisive tendencies. Hence sports should be included as an area of
recognition for the conferment of the Bharat Ratna," he had said. A
similar request was sent by MP Madhusudan Yadav. The ministry also received
letters against Tendulkar being given the award.
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