The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna is the highest sporting honour of the Republic of India. It is named after Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India. It is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. The recipient() is/are selected by a committee constituted by the Ministry and is honoured for their spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports over a ***** of four years at international level.
This was instituted in 1991–92, the award was given for the performance by a sportsperson in a year. Based on the suggestions provided by 2014 award selection committee, the Ministry revised the criteria in February 2015 to consider the performance over a ** of four years.
The details of nomination procedure and award are:
(a) The nominations for a given year are accepted till 30 April or last working day of April with not more than two sportspersons nominated for each sports discipline.
(b) A twelve-member committee evaluates the performances of a sportsperson at various International events like Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, ***** Games, and Commonwealth Games.
(c) The committee later submits their recommendations to the Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports for further approval.
(d) As of 2017, the award comprises a medallion, a certificate, and a cash prize of Rs 7.5 lakh. The first recipient of the award was Chess Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand, who was honoured for the performance in the year 1991–92.
