Khel Ratna Award row: Why Jyothi Surekha Vennam moved Court- Explained

India’s best-performing athletes were conferred with the National Sports Awards by President Droupadi Murmu on January 9 in a regal ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi.

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna winners Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty couldn’t be present at the grand ceremony due to their participation in the ongoing Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur.

The build-up to the National Sports Awards was controversial much like every other thing in Indian sports.

India's number one compound archer, Jyothi Surekha Vennam, moved the Andhra Pradesh High Court and filed a writ petition questioning the government's decision not to confer the Khel Ratna award on her despite her glorious performance in the past few years, representing India.

She was an integral part of Indian compound archers' dominance globally in 2023.

Jyothi won gold at the World Championships, claimed another five at the Archery World Cup series and added three more at the Asian Games in Hangzhou in individual, women's and mixed-team categories respectively.

Citing the selection criteria devised by the Sports Ministry, Jyothi contested the snub and claimed that she has had more cumulative points than the badminton duo of Satwik and Chirag.

“As per the list of medals won by the petitioner (Vennam) and the points earned as per the criteria fixed by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, the petitioner is eligible for 148.74 points, whereas Rankireddy and Shetty would be eligible for 58.5 points,” the petition read.

What is Khel Ratna Award?

The Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, previously the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, is the highest sporting honour in the country. It is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Recipients are selected by a selection committee constituted by the Ministry and honoured for their "spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports over four years" at an international level.

Criteria for the Khel Ratna Award

The selection committee evaluates the performances of a sportsperson at various international events which include the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Asian Games, and Commonwealth Games. Usually conferred upon only one sportsperson in a year, a few exceptions have been made when multiple recipients were awarded in a year. A record 12 Khel Ratnas were awarded in 2021 following India’s strong performance at the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Calculations of points for Khel Ratna

The eligibility criteria, set by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports mention that a sportsperson shall be honoured with the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award for excellence in sports at marquee international-level events over four years.

Rule 1. Points for winning medals will be given to each eligible sportsperson for his/her performance during the last 4 years and up to the conclusion of the Olympic Games, Commonwealth, and Asian Games during those years when these Games are held as per marks given in the table below:

*For the World Championship/World Cup of different periodicities, proportionate marks will be given. For example, if a gold medal at World Championships/World Cup held quadrennially carries 40 points, then a gold medal at World Championships/World Cups held biennially will have 20 points, and the gold medal at World Championships/World Cups held annually will have 10 points.

Rule 2. For team events, marks will be computed taking into consideration the strength of the team. If the prescribed marks for an individual event are ‘A’, in the case of the team event, the marks will be computed as follows:

(i) A team of 2 persons: 1.5 X ‘A’/number of persons in the team

(ii) A team of 3 or 4 persons: 2 X ‘A’/number of persons in the team

(iii) A team of 5 to 10 persons: 3 X ‘A’/number of persons in the team

(iv) A team of more than 10 persons: 5 X ‘A’/number of persons in the team

For example, if Satwiksairaj Rankireddy is part of the men's doubles team that wins gold at the Asian Games - as there are two players in the team - he will get 1.5 X 30 / 2 = 45/2 = 22.5 points

Rule 3. 80 % weightage will be given for the medals won in various International championships and sports events of the disciplines covered in the Olympic Games (Summer, Winter, and Paralympics), Asian Games, and Commonwealth Games. 20 % weightage will be given to the marks given by the Selection Committee for assessment of the eligible sportsperson keeping in view factors like profile and standard of the sports events in which he or she has won medals.

Rule 4. 80 marks will be given to the sportsperson getting maximum points as computed in the table above. The rest of the sportspersons will be given marks proportionately to the said sportsperson.

For example, if a sportsperson 'A' has got the highest points, say 85 points as per the table above and another sportsperson 'B' has got 70 points as per the table above, then 'A' will get 80 marks, and 'B' will get (70 x 80 / 85 ) = 65.88 marks.

Jyothi Surekha Vennam, in her petition, contends that she has accumulated a total of 148.74 points based on the above method, while Satwik and Chirag have gathered 58.5 points.

The following tables describe how Jyothi arrived at 148.74 points and shuttlers Satwik and Chirag at 58.5 points by looking at their major results in the four years (2019 to 2023) which were considered for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award for the year 2023.

Jyothi Surekha Vennam Points (In Archery - World Championships are held biennially, the Women's Team has three members and the Mixed Team has two members)

Satwik-Chirag points tally (In Badminton - World Championships are held annually, Men Doubles have two members, the men's Team has 10 members, and Mixed Team has 10 members))

Going by Rule 4, if 148.74 points accumulated by Jyothi Surekha are considered the highest among all eligible sportspersons and converted to 80 marks then 58.5 Points of Satwik and Chirag in comparison to her will have the value of 58.5 x 80 / 1448.74 = 4680/148.74 = 31.4 marks

The factors that seem to be crucial in the case of Jyothi Surekha Vennam are following guidelines from the government.

1. As per Rule 3, the Khel Ratna is not awarded only based on the points collected by an individual sportsperson. That has only 80% weightage. The remaining 20% weightage depends on the selection committee’s assessment revolving around factors like 'profile and standard of the sports events' in which he or she has won medals.

Badminton being an Olympic sport with Indians winning medals in the last 3 Olympics in the sport and compound archery, not an Olympic discipline might have played a big role in favour of Satwikairaj Rankirddy and Chirag Shetty.

2. The selection committee can also consider achievements or medals won in equivalent recognized international tournaments other than the Olympic/Asian/Commonwealth/World Games/World Championships/World Cup as per their discretion. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Shetty Shetty played a big role in India winning Gold in Thomas Cup 2022 and they bagged a gold medal at the Asian Championships 2023 also. These remarkable achievements might have convinced the selection committee to find the most suitable for Khel Ratna's honour.