The Arjuna Award, officially known as the Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the sports honour of Republic of India. It is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Before the introduction of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 1991–1992, the Arjuna award was the highest sporting honour of India. , the award comprises "a bronze statuette of Arjuna, certificate, ceremonial dress, and a cash prize of ."
Name The award is named after Arjuna, a character from the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata of ancient India. He is one of the Pandavas, depicted as a skilled archer winning the hand of Draupadi in marriage and in the Kurukshetra War, Krishna becomes his charioteer teaching him the sacred knowledge of Gita. In Hindu mythology, he has been seen as a symbol of hard work, dedication and concentration.
History Instituted in 1961 to honour the outstanding sportspersons of the country, the award over the years has undergone a number of expansions, reviews, and rationalizations. The award was expanded to include all the recognised disciplines in 1977, has introduced indigenous games and physically handicapped categories in 1995 and introduced a lifetime contribution category in 1995 leading to creation of a separate Dhyan Chand Award in 2002. The latest revision in 2018 stipulates that 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. It also recommends giving only fifteen awards in a year, relaxing in case of excellent performance in major multi-sport events, team sports, across gender and giving away of at least one award to physically challenged category.
The nominations for the award are received from all government recognised National Sports Federations, the Indian Olympic Association, the Sports Authority of India (SAI), the Sports Promotion and Control Boards, the state and the union territory governments and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna, Dhyan Chand and Dronacharya awardees of the previous years. The recipients are selected by a committee constituted by the Ministry and are honoured for their "good performance in the field of sports over a period of four years" at international level and for having shown "qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline".
Recipients In 2020, a total of twenty-seven individuals were conferred with the award. Individuals from nineteen different sports were awarded, which includes three from shooting, two each from athletics, badminton, boxing, cricket, hockey and wrestling, and one each from archery, basketball, equestrian, football, golf, kabaddi, kho kho, lawn tennis, rowing, swimming, table tennis and winter sports. Three individuals were also awarded from parasports.
In 2022, a total of twenty-five individuals have been conferred with the award. Individuals from fourteen different sports were awarded, which includes three from athletics, two each from badminton, boxing, chess, shooting and wrestling, and one each from hockey, judo, kabaddi, lawn bowls, mallakhamb, table tennis, weightlifting and wushu. Four individuals were also awarded from parasports.
List of recipients +
+ KeyIndicates Para sports
+ List of Arjuna award recipients, showing the year, sport, and gender Year Recipient Sport Gender2020 Archery Male2020 Athletics Female2020 Badminton Male2020 Badminton Male2020 Basketball Male2020 Boxing Male2020 Boxing Female2020 Cricket Male2020 Cricket Female2020 Equestrian Male2020 Football Male2020 Golf Female2020 Hockey Male2020 Hockey Female2020 Kabaddi Male2020 Kho Kho Female2020 Rowing Male2020 Shooting Female2020 Shooting Male2020 Table Tennis Female2020 Tennis Male2020 Winter Sports Male2020 Wrestling Female2020 Wrestling Male2020 Swimming Male2020 Athletics Male2020 Shooting Male2021 Athletics Male2021 Boxing Female2021 Cricket Male2021 Fencing Female2021 Hockey Female2021 Hockey Female2021 Kabaddi Male2021 Mallakhamba Female2021 Shooting Male2021 Tennis Female2021 Wrestling Male2021 Hockey Male2021 Hockey Male2021 Hockey Male2021 Hockey Male2021 Hockey Male2021 Hockey Male2021 Hockey Male2021 Hockey Male2021 Hockey Male2021 Hockey Male2021 Hockey Male2021 Hockey Male2021 Hockey Male2021 Hockey Male2021 Hockey Male2021 Hockey Male2021 Athletics Male2021 Athletics Male2021 Athletics Male2021 Badminton Male2021 Shooting Male2021 Table Tennis Female2021 Archery Male2021 Athletics Male2022 Athletics Female2022 Athletics Male2022 Athletics Male2022 Badminton Male2022 Badminton Male2022 Boxing Male2022 Boxing Female2022 Chess Female2022 Chess Male2022 Hockey Female2022 Judo Female2022 Kabaddi Female2022 Lawn Bowls Female2022 Mallakhamba Male2022 Shooting Female2022 Shooting Male2022 Table Tennis Female2022 Weightlifting Male2022 Wrestling Female2022 Wrestling Female2022 Wushu Male2022 Badminton Female2022 Badminton Male2022 Swimming Male2022 Badminton Female2023 Archery Male2023 Archery Female2023 Athletics Male2023 Athletics Female2023 Boxing Male2023 Chess Female2023 Cricket Male2023 Equestrian Male2023 Equestrian Female2023 Golf Female2023 Hockey Male2023 Hockey Female2023 Kabaddi Male2023 Kabaddi Female2023 Nasreen Shaikh Kho Kho Female2023 Lawn Bowls Female2023 Shooting Male2023 Shooting Female2023 Squash Male2023 Table Tennis Female2023 Wrestling Male2023 Wrestling Female2023 Wushu Female2023 Archery Female2023 Cricket Male2023 Canoeing Female2024 Athletics Female2024 Athletics Female2024 Boxing Female2024 Boxing Female2024 Chess Female2024 Hockey Female2024 Hockey Male2024 Hockey Male2024 Hockey Male2024 Hockey Male2024 Archery Male2024 Athletics Female2024 Athletics Female2024 Athletics Male2024 Athletics Male2024 Athletics Male2024 Athletics Male2024 Athletics Male2024 Athletics Female2024 Athletics Male2024 Badminton Male2024 Badminton Female2024 Badminton Female2024 Badminton Female2024 Judo Male2024 Shooting Female2024 Shooting Female2024 Shooting Male2024 Shooting Male2024 Squash Male2024 Swimming Male2024 Wrestling Male
Explanatory notes
References
External links Official Website