RAJASTHAN STATE SPORTS COUNCIL
• Rajasthan State Sports Council (RSSC) is the apex body at the State level to look after the development of sports activities and providing coaching to the players.
• RSSC was set up in 1957 by the Government of Rajasthan and got registered as a society under Rajasthan State Society Act, 1958.
• The State Government has been providing grant-in-aid to the Council.
Rajasthan State Sports Council: Organisation
• Chief Executive: Chairman of Council
o First: Mr. V.G.Kanetkar
o Current Chairman of the Council: Mr. Bhaskar A. Sawant
• Chief-Patron of RSSC: Governor of Rajasthan
• Deputy Patron of RSSC: Chief Minister of Rajasthan
• Apart from Chairman, the Council also includes Vice President, Treasurer and 12 members nominated by the State Government.
• Out of these 12 members, 6 officers are ex-officio members.
Roles & Responsibilities of RSSC
• Looks after development of Sports in State of Rajasthan.
• Council also distributes sports awards namely:
o Maharana Pratap Sports Award
o Guru Vashishta Sports Award
NATIONAL SPORTS AWARDS
• The Union Government bestows National Sports Awards every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports in India. These awards include Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, Dronacharya Award, Arjuna Award, Dhyan Chand Award, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy and Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar.
• The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports awards these annually.
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award
• It is the highest rank National Sports Award in India.
• Started in the year 1991, the first recipient of the award was Vishwanathan Anand in 1992-1993.
• Initially, the government of India gave this award for outstanding performance in the field of sports for one year, but this duration was changed to four years in the year 2015.
• As of 2017, the award comprises a medal, a certificate, and a cash prize of ₹7.5 lakh.
• Awardees from Rajasthan:
- 2004: Shooting – Mr. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathod
- 2017: Para Athlete – Mr. Devendra Jhajharia
Dronacharya Award
• Officially known as Dronacharya Award for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games.
• As of 2017, the award comprises a bronzes statuette of Dronacharya, a certificate, ceremonial dress, and a cash prize of ₹5 lakh.
• Awardees from Rajasthan:
- 1987: Guru Hanuman – Wrestling
- 1995: Shri Karan singh
- 1995: Shri Shyamsundar Rao – Volleyball
- 2005: Shri Maha Singh – Wrestling
- Shri R.D. Singh
- 2012: Shri Virendra Poonia – Atheletics
Arjuna Award
• Given to a sportsperson who has consistently exhibited outstanding performance for four years.
• Started in 1961, the award carries a cash prize of ₹ 500,000, a bronze statue of Arjuna and a scroll.
Dhyan Chand Award
• Officially known as Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sports and Games.
• As of 2016, the award comprises a statuette, a certificate, ceremonial dress, and a cash prize of ₹5 lakh
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy
• Awarded to Universities for the performances of the students of the universities in Olympic Games/ Paralympic Games and other games included in award list.
Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar
• This scheme was introduced by government in 2009 to encourage involvement of corporates and sports promotion boards in the development of sports in the country.
• According to the revised plan, this scheme will be given in following four categories.
They are:
- Identification and nurturing of budding/young talent.
- Encouragement of sports through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
- Employment of sportspersons and sports welfare measures.
- Sports for Development.
The revised Scheme, prescribes the eligibility criteria for all four categories.
RAJASTHAN SPORTS AWARDS
• The Rajasthan Sports Council is highest organisation of sports development in the state. Like National Awards at the centre, the state also institutionalised awards to recognize and honour eminent sportspersons of the state.
• In Rajasthan, players are honoured with ‘Maharana Pratap Award’ for outstanding achievements at National and International level by the State Sports Council.
• Additionally, such Sports trainers are awarded ‘Vashishth Puraskar’ by the State Sports Council.
• In 2017, the council also introduced two new awards – rising star award for junior players and excellence award for sportspersons who performed well in Olympics.
Maharana Pratap Award:
• This is the highest awards for sportsperson in the state of Rajasthan.
• Started in 1982-83
• The Award includes:
- Citation
- Cash prize of INR 1,00,000/
- Bronze Statute of Maharana Pratap
- Blazer and Tie
• In 2017, the State government honoured 41 sports persons for the laurels won during 2008 – 2016.
• And in September 2018, the Rajasthan State Sports Council released a list of eligible candidates who got the Maharana Pratap Sports Awards for the year 2016-17 and 2017-18.
• A total of 7 players from the state will receive this award in different categories.
- Sapna Poonia – Athletics
- Khetaram – Athletics
- Sarvesh Parik – Archery
- Suman Dhaka – Para Athlete
- Manoharlal – cycling
- Sundar Singh Gurjar – Para Athlete
- Abhilekh Parashar – Gymnastics
Guru Vashistha Award:
• This is the highest award for trainer/coach in Rajasthan.
• Started in 1985-86
• The Award includes:
- Citation
- Cash Prize of INR 1,00,000/-
- Bronze statute of Guru Vashishta
- Blazer and Tie
• The first prize- awarding trainers include Mr. Pokarmal (Athletics), and Mr. Ramdev Sharma (Cycling) who were honoured by this award in 1985-86.
• In 2017, the state government honoured 13 coaches. And in September 2018, two coaches were rewarded with Guru Vashishth Puraskar for the year 2016-17 and 2017-18.
• They are:
- Mahesh Kumar Ranga – Cycling
- Ramesh Singh – Rollball
Excellence Awards
• This award is for state sports persons that perform well in Olympics.
• Sapna Poonia (walker), Kheta Ram (marathon) and Pankaj Singh (cricketer) were awarded in 2017.
• In 2018, Rajasthan Sports Council also honored the players who won medals in the Asian Games held in Jakarta with The award of excellence. They are:
- Om Prakash for rowing
- Rajat Chauhan for Archery
- Shalini Pathak & Manpreet Kaur for Kabaddi
- Jitendra Singh for Equestrian (Horse Riding)
- Apoorvi Chandela – Shooting
- Rajulal Chaudhary & Deepak Hooda for Kabaddi