Times
of India: Jaipur: Friday, 15 August 2014.
With
controversy regarding boxer Manoj Kumar missing out on the Arjuna Award
nominations refusing to die down, the sports ministry has asked the selection
panel to meet again on Tuesday and take a final decision.
Upset at not
finding his name among the nominations, the Haryana-based boxer has filed an
RTI (Right to Information) to know why Jai Bhagwan's name was proposed for the
coveted award. And, accepting the fact that there was some 'technical mistake',
the selection panel has agreed to reconsider the decision.
It was also
reliably learnt that despite having better points than Jai Bhagwan, Manoj
missed out on the coveted award owing to a technical blunder by the screening
committee formed by the Sports Authority of India (SAI). Despite being
shortlisted, the SAI officials mistook him as a 'dope cheat' and his name never
came up for discussion. Later realizing that it was a different Manoj Kumar (a
junior school-level boxer), who was sanctioned for violating anti-doping code
in 2012, the sports ministry asked the SAI to ensure that the mistake is
rectified.
"We have
asked the committee to evaluate Manoj's case again. Lack of information led to
such a confusion, and that's why the committee will once again meet to come to
a conclusion," sports secretary Ajit Sharan told TOI. Not just Manoj,
questions were raised over the nomination of young squash player Anaka
Alankamony. Asked whether that case will also be up for discussion, a member of
the panel indicated that they will 'keep all factors in mind'. "We don't
want any sportsmen to suffer because of any technical blunder," he said.
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