2021 Paralympics silver medallist Devendra Jhajharia among others named in National Sports Awards selection committee

2021 Paralympics silver medallist Devendra Jhajharia has new responsibilities coming his way. Devendra Jhajharia, along with former world champion boxer L Sarita Devi and others, have been included in the selection committee for this year's National Sports Awards.

Three-time Paralympic medal-winning javelin thrower Jhajharia will go down as one of India's greatest athletes in India's sporting history.

Jhajharia bagged a silver medal in the javelin throw event at the recently concluded 2021 Tokyo Para-Games. It added to his cabinet that comprised of two gold medals he had won in the 2004 and 2016 editions.

Javelin throw magic from #IND's contingent😮A #Gold medal for Sumit Antil (F64) and a #Silver and #Bronze for Devendra Jhajharia and Sundar Singh Gurjar respectively (F46) took the nation's medal tally at the #Paralympics to 7️⃣! What a day! #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/26s0Yi7iru

— #Tokyo2020 for India (@Tokyo2020hi) August 30, 2021

Apart from the above mentioned names, the selection committee also includes hockey coach Baldev Singh, Sports Authority of India Director General Sandip Pradhan, and senior journalist Vikrant Gupta.

Retired Supreme Court judge Justice Mukundakum Sharma has been picked as the chairperson of the committee. Along with the SC judge, decorated former shooter Anjali Bhagwat and former women’s cricket team captain Anjum Chopra were also picked by the sports ministry.

2021 has been a historic year for India. A collective 26 medals was won by the Olympics and Paralympics teams. Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra was the biggest star of the Olympics with a gold, which was India’s first athletics medal at the Olympics.

Javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia, former Indian cricketer Venkatesh Prasad & former world champion boxer L Sarita Devi have been named in the selection committee for this year's National Sports Awards. pic.twitter.com/fwZMey68sB

— Doordarshan Sports (@ddsportschannel) September 8, 2021

National Awards and Prize money awaiting the medalists

The highest honor is the Khel Ratna award, which was re-named from Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award to Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award earlier this year. The other award is the sporting honor Arjuna award. Khel Ratna awardees will receive a prize money of INR 25 lakh, while Arjuna Awardee will receive a prize money of INR 15 lakh.

Coaches will be felicitated with the Dronacharya award. Meanwhile, the annual honors comprise of the Lifetime Achievement award, the Rahstriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar, and the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) trophy for the year 2021.