17 sportspersons to receive Arjuna Award

• The Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports announced the National Sports Awards 2025.

• As many as 17 sportspersons were named for the Arjuna Award.

• No sportsperson has been selected for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, India’s highest sporting honour for the year 2025.

• The last time that the country did not have a Khel Ratna was the year 2014.

• The selection committee was headed by former Supreme Court Judge Arun Kumar Mishra.

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award

• Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award is given for the spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson over a period of the previous four years.

• It was launched in 1991-92 as Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. In August 2021, the Khel Ratna Award was renamed in the honour of hockey wizard Dhyan Chand. 

• The prize money for the Ratna Award has been increased to Rs 25 lakh from the previous amount of Rs 7.5 lakh.

Arjuna Award

It was instituted in 1961 and is given to players who have exhibited good performance consistently for the previous four years at the international level and have shown qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline. The awardees are given a statuette, a scroll of honour, ceremonial dress and award money of Rs 15 lakh.

2025 Arjuna Award winners:

1) Tejaswin Shankar - Athletics

2) Muhammed Ajmal V - Athletics

3) Priyanka Goswami - Athletics

4) Treesa Jolly - Badminton

5) Pullela Gayatri Gopichand - Badminton

6) Narender Berwal - Boxing

7) Vidit Santosh Gujrathi - Chess

8) Divya Jitendra Deshmukh - Chess

9) Dhanush Srikanth - Deaf shooting

10) Lalremsiami - Hockey

11) Rajkumar Pal - Hockey

12) Surjeet Singh - Kabaddi

13) Pooja Kajla - Kabaddi

14) Rudransh Khandelwal - Para shooting

15) Ekta Bhyan - Para athletics

16) Arvind Singh - Rowing

17) Akhil Sheoran - Shooting.

Arjuna Awards (Lifetime) 

Arjuna Award (Lifetime) is given to honour and motivate those sportspersons who have contributed to sports by their performance and continue to contribute to promotion of sports even after their retirement from active sporting career.

This year’s winner:

I. Arumainayagam, who was a member of the 1962 Asian Games gold-winning football team was the sole winner of the Arjuna Award for ‘Lifetime Achievement’.

Dronacharya Award

• It was instituted in 1985. This award honours eminent coaches who have assisted national athletes and teams in achieving outstanding results in international competitions. The awardees are given a statuette, certificate, ceremonial dress and a cash prize. 

• Awardees of Dronacharya Award (Regular Category) will receive Rs 10 lakh.  

• Awardees of Dronacharya Award (Lifetime Category) will get Rs 15 lakh.

This year’s winners:

Regular Category:

1) Parveer Singh - Athletics

2) Chhote Lal Yadav - Boxing

3) Neha Nandkumar Chavan - Shooting

Lifetime Category:

1) Dharmendra Singh Yadav - Boxing

2) Virender Kumar - Wrestling

Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar

• With a view to recognise the contribution made to sports development by entities other than sportspersons and coaches, the government has instituted an award since 2009 entitled Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar.

• It is given to corporate entities (both in private and public sector), sports control boards, NGOs — including sports bodies at the state and national level who have played a visible role in the area of sports promotion and development.

This year’s winner:

• Army Paralympic Node, Pune.

• The Sports Awards were traditionally presented on August 29 every year to commemorate the National Sports Day, which is also the birth anniversary of one of India's greatest sportspersons — hockey wizard Major Dhyan Chand.

• However, after the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when the ceremony was conducted virtually due to health protocols, the date has not remained consistent.