KOLLAM: D Anil Kumar, the sprinter who broke Milkha Singh’s national record, cries foul over being ignored for G V Raja sports award for the past 15 years.
He has attended more international athletic events and won more medals than many GV Raja award recipients from the state and the national record is still in his name. From 1996 till the time he hung up his shoes in 2008, Kumar was the national champion in 100 metres and 200 metres. He said he thought he would get a chance this time as the Council in 2014 decided to consider four sportspersons, including two who were not active in sports - long jump champion Anju Bobby George and volleyball player Tom Joseph were considered along with Asian Games medallist O P Jaisha and Jibin Thomas.
“I will urge the council to spell out what more should I accomplish to get the award,” said Kumar who received Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM) in 2006 for his contribution to sports during his stint in the Army.
Kumar has filed a case before the High Court seeking clarification on the award selection criteria and why he was ignored. According to him other deserving sportspersons were also ignored by the council, including Ramachandran and Liju David Thottan, his relay team members in Sydney Olympics. Kumar who works as a coach with Sports Authority of India, Kollam, trains 14 national-level players.
Sports Council secretary Binu George Varghese said the G V Raja awards were not based on the personal views of the council president or secretary. “We have an eight-member committee comprising eminent people who declare the winners each year,” he said. “The panel reached a consensus that none other than P R Sreejesh, who represented the country in hockey at the Asian Games and Olympics, deserved the award in the male category. We have a criterion to pick candidates based on their performance in the preceding four years,” Binu said. The Sports Council said the awards given to Tom and Anju were a one-off case and claimed that no sportsperson could demand such awards.