MyVoice: Views of our readers 7th August 2021

Very timely move

It is but quite apt and timely that the announcement that the hitherto "Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award", the highest sporting honour of India being rechristened as "Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes in the wake of our hockey team clinching the bronze medal after a 41-year long gap. It goes as the best tribute paid to the memory of the late field hockey player, Major Dhyan Chand, who brought laurels and accolades to our nation by winning the Olympic gold medals thrice way back in 1928,1932 and 1936.

Seshagiri Row Karry, Hyderabad

The recent decision by Narendra Modi led the NDA government to rename the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award to Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award is a well-deserved decision though taken late and has pleased the sports lovers. The State governments should also follow the same path to name the awards in sports and the monuments of the sport like stadiums and academies on the names of famous sportspersons.

It has been seen that in India, the successive governments have deliberately failed in providing respect to the veterans of the various sport. There are very few memorials being built in the name of sportsmen but the majority of the sports awards and complexes have been named after the politicians who had played a very little or limited role in promoting the sports. A special bill must be passed to rename all the sports-related names on the names of famous sportsmen throughout India. The government must also provide Bharat Ratna to Major Dhyan Chand as a mark of respect to him.

Dr Navneet Seth, Dhuri (Punjab)

The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna has been renamed the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna. Interestingly, the government of India had instituted a Major Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sports and Games, in 2002. A glance at the Wikipedia page reveals that 75 stalwarts have received this award from 2002 to 2020.

So, does this mean that we will have not one, but two awards named after Major Dhyan Chand, from this year? One for the best contemporary sportsperson and another for an achiever of a lifetime? Or will the latter be renamed? Guess the next logical step after the rechristening of the Khel Ratna will be to rename all sporting arenas in the country after sporting legends. Add to that the stadium in Ahmedabad, which should be renamed the SMG-Kapil stadium for obvious reasons.

C K R Nathan, Ghaziabad

True to his identity as an avowed Hindu nationalist, Prime Minister Narendra Modi linked the sporting feat to the abrogation of Article 370 and the commencement of the building of a Ram temple in Ayodhya for all the three having August 5 as the common date of occurrence. What a fortuitous coincidence of dates for Modi to indulge in grandstanding!

For reasons best known to himself, Modi omitted to refer to the three gold medals won by Jesse Owens on August 5, 1936 in the Berlin Olympics. Fortunately for us, the bronze medal match was not held on August 4 or August 6! Modi could have instituted another award to honour Dhyan Chand and avoided renaming the existing Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award after the hockey legend.

G David Milton, Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu

Pathetic state

It's very disappointing that in the latest World University Rankings survey (Quacqarelli Symonds - QS) not a single institution in our country gets a rank of less than one hundred. The same thing is getting repeated every year. Lack of faculty and infrastructure , downfall of research sector , quality less teaching practices , unscientific teacher and student ratio and excessive political interference are the main reasons for this plight. Governments should wake up immediately and take all needful steps to modernise the system in providing world class university education.

T Santhosh Kumar, Yellandu