The Sports Ministry on Monday announced that Rio Olympics medalists, shuttler PV Sindhu and wrestler Sakshi Malik, will receive the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award along with gymnast Dipa Karmakar and shooter Jitu Rai.
The award comprises a cash prize of Rs 7.5 lakh along with a medal and a citation. Dipa's coach Bisheshwar Nandi has been selected for the Dronacharya Award along with Team India skipper Virat Kohli's coach Raj Kumar Sharma, athletics coach Nagapuri Ramesh and boxing coach Sagar Mal Dhayal.
The Dronacharya Awards for lifetime will be awarded to veteran swimming coach S Pradeep Kumar and wrestling coach Mahabir Singh. The award comprises a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh each with a medal and a citation.
Star cricketer Ajinkya Rahane will be conferred the Arjuna Award alongside archer Rajat Chauhan, athlete lalita Babar, cueist Sourav Kothari, boxer Shiva Thapa, footballer Subrata Paul, hockey stars VR Raghunath and Rani Rampal, shooters Gurpreet Singh, Apurvi Chandela, paddler Somyajit Ghosh, wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Amit Kumar, para-athletes Sandeep Singh and Virender Singh.
Athlete Satti Geetha will be conferred the Dhayan Chand Award along with hockey player Sylvanus Dung Dung and rower Rajendra Pralhad Shelke. The award comprises a cash prize of Rs.5 lakh, a medal and a citation
President Pranab Mukherjee will give away the awards at Rashtrapati Bhavan on August 29, which is celebrated as the National Sports Day.
National Sports Awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports. Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award is given for the spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson over a period of four years; Arjuna Award is given for consistently outstanding performance for four years; Dronacharya Award for coaches for producing medal winners at prestigious international sports events, Dhyan Chand Award for life time contribution to sports development.