Wrestling legend Jadhav nominated for Padma Shri

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 20

Finally recognising India’s first individual Olympics medallist KD Jadhav’s achievements, the Sports Ministry today recommended his name for the prestigious Padma Shri, 33 years after his death.

The Ministry, after receiving the recommendation of Jadhav’s name from the Ministry of Human Resource & Development, forwarded the file of the legendary wrestler to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for its consideration. According to a Sports Ministry official, the Maharashtra government has also written in favour of bestowing Jadhav with the Padma Shri, the country’s fourth highest civilian honour.  

A Padma awards committee, to be constituted by MHA, will take a call on Jadhav’s nomination for the award. Jadhav had won India’s first individual Olympics medal by clinching a bronze at the 1952 Helsinki Games. 

Jadhav’s family has struggled for a long time to get him honoured by the government. They’ve knocked on every door — right from the Maharashtra government to the Prime Minister’s Office — to see the celebrated wrestler honoured with the Padma Shri. In 2000, 16 years after Jadhav’s death in a road accident, the government finally honoured him with the Arjuna Award. The family’s demand for a national-level wrestling academy in Jadhav’s hometown in Satara, though, doesn’t look like materialising anytime soon. The state government is yet to allot land for the academy. Jadhav’s son Ranjit has threatened to auction his father’s Olympics medal to raise money for the academy.

Dhoni for Padma Bhushan

The Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) has made only one recommendation for the Padma Bhushan, nominating former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the award. Dhoni could become the 11th cricketer to receive the country’s third highest civilian award. When Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore was asked to comment on Dhoni’s nomination, all he said was, “All the best to him”.

Other sportspersons to send their nominations for the Padma awards include billiards and snooker champion Pankaj Advani (Padma Bhushan), two-time Olympics medallist wrestler Sushil Kumar (Padma Bhushan), 2006 CWG gold medallist table tennis player Achanta Sharath Kamal (Padma Shri), wrestling coach Kripa Shankar Bishnoi (Padma Shri) and 2010 CWG gold medallist boxer Manoj Kumar (Padma Shri), among others.