Saina’s Padma Bhushan

After two days of controversy, the Sports Ministry has decided to recommend the name of badminton star Saina Nehwal for Padma Bhushan, the nation's third highest civilian award after Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan. This has brought to a welcome end the unseemly public wrangling over the recommendation of Saina's name for the award. However, the controversy has raised some important questions. Why must such national awards be demanded by the achievers? Such demands can only diminish the dignity of the award — of what value is a gift if you have to campaign hard to obtain it?
Seeking awards is the norm in sports — sportspersons, coaches and associations do this every year for the list of the Arjuna Award. Every year there is a controversy over a sportsperson being given, or not given, one of the sports awards. Some sportspersons have taken the legal route to get the award — boxer Manoj Kumar, for instance, was given the Arjuna Award this year after the Delhi High Court agreed that he deserved it. However, there is a vital difference between the criteria for the sports and civilian awards. The Arjuna Award or Khel Ratna is presented on the basis of a points-based system. Thus, sportspersons who have been denied these awards can demonstrate, by calculating the points they have won, that they deserve to be rewarded. There are no such criteria for the civilian awards — Padma Bhushan, for instance, is awarded for “distinguished service of a high order”. This ambiguity means that it's a discretionary award. 
There is a problem with acceding to Saina’s demand for a civilian award that has non-quantifiable criteria. Suppose Abhinav Bindra were to demand Bharat Ratna or Padma Vibhushan for being the only Indian to win an Olympics gold medal in an individual sport? Or if MS Dhoni were to demand Padma Vibhushan for leading India to two World Cup titles in his career? After all, there's now a precedent that shows awards can be obtained on demand. It's hardly a precedent that dignifies these awards.

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