Wikipedia now carries the following citation: ”MajorDhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award formerly known as Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in Sports and Games, is the highest sporting honour of the Republic of India. It is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.” It is an interesting fact that with this renamed ‘Dhyan Chand Award for Life-time Achievement in Sports and Games’, we now have two national sporting awards celebrating India’s hockey legend.

Confusing, is it? Will this lead to dilution of the prestige for recipients of either of these awards? Wait, there is more.

Sportspersons already conferred with either the Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award or Dronacharya Award are not eligible for the Dhyan Chand Life-time Achievement award.Coincidentally, these sporting awards are conferred on August 29, the National Sports Day since a 2012 promulgation by the Manmohan Singh government to commemorate the birth anniversary of Dhyan Chand.

To ascribe the puerile decision to the “Citizens across India” and “Respecting their sentiment” is just in sheer bad taste. And farcical. But that is expected when parochial politics over-rides governance.

With all reverence to the incomparable legend of Major Dhyan Chand, and appreciation for any step to honour his legacy, it would help to recall a few facts and assign some perspective.

Rajiv Gandhi, as part of the 1982 Asian Games’ organising committee, was the major driving force for the event that entirely changed the infrastructure of Delhi. The 60,000-seater JN Stadium, an important part of Delhi’s skyline, and still the city’s most-desired venue for sporting and cultural events, was built for the Games. A number of the city’s famous flyovers and roads were also built at the time. The IGI Stadium, Games Village, Siri Fort auditorium, Karni Singh shooting range would probably never have existed had Delhi not hosted the 1982 Games. And the sight of the flyovers in Delhi, then, gave the city a truly international look and feel. This New Delhi was set to compete with the developed world capital cities. What’s remarkable is that this was achieved in only two years.

The IX Asian Games also brought color television into India, as the Games were to be broadcast in colour by Doordarshan. (Incidentally, Delhi had hosted another edition of the event 31 years prior in 1951, what is officially referred to as the First Asian Games).

The annual Khel Ratna awards were institutionalized and named by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, perhaps as an acknowledgement of Rajiv Gandhi’s huge contribution. No other youth leader from that era could match the extensive and proven track record of Rajiv Gandhi who was in his late 40s when the 1982 Asian Games were held and was only 40 when he became the Prime Minister.

The Sports Authority of India, that originated with the 1982 Games, has since led the incredible sports renaissance in the country.

But I believe this would interest only those who understand that institution/nation-building is a painstaking process with a long gestation period. Author is a film producer.