National Sports Awards are provided by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports every year. The awards are presented by the President of India at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi. These awards were given for the first time in 1956-57.
The National Sports Awards is a collective name give of the six awards named- the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award (Khel Ratna), the Arjuna Award, the Dronacharya Award, the Dhyan Chand Award, the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy (MAKA Trophy) and the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar.
The awards ceremony is usually held on August 29 but was delayed this year and recently, it took place on Jan 9, 2024.
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List of the Awards-
1. Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award-
This award recognises outstanding performance by a sportsperson over the past four years. Recipients receive a medallion, a certificate and a cash prize of ₹25 lakh.
This year badminton duo of Chirag Shetty and Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy won the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.
2. Arjuna Award-
The award also recognises outstanding performance by a sportsperson over the past four years but recipients receive a bronze statuette of Arjuna, a certificate, a ceremonial dress and a cash prize of ₹15 lakh here.
This year 26 sportspersons were selected for this award-
- Ojas Pravin Deotale (Archery)
- Aditi Gopichand Swami (Archery)
- Murali Sreeshankar (Athletics)
- Parul Chaudhary (Athletics)
- Mohammad Hussamuddin (Boxing)
- R. Vaishali (Chess)
- Mohammed Shami (Cricket)
- Anush Agarwalla (Equestrian)
- Divyakriti Singh (Equestrian Dressage)
- Diksha Dagar (Golf)
- Krishan Bahadur Pathak (Hockey)
- Sushila Chanu (Hockey)
- Pawan Kumar (Kabaddi)
- Ritu Negi (Kabaddi)
- Nasreen (Kho-Kho)
- Pinki (Lawn Bowls)
- Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (Shooting)
- Esha Singh (Shooting)
- Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (Squash)
- Ayhika Mukherjee (Table Tennis)
- Sunil Kumar (Wrestling)
- Antim Panghal (Wrestling)
- Naorem Roshibina Devi (Wushu)
- Sheetal Devi (Para-archery)
- Illuri Ajay Kumar Reddy (Blind Cricket)
- Prachi Yadav (Para-canoeing)
3. Dronacharya Award-
The Dronacharya Award is given to the coaches who have produced medal winners at prestigious international events. The award includes a bronze statuette of Dronacharya, a certificate, a ceremonial dress and a cash prize of ₹15 lakh.
This year 5 sportspersons won this award-
- Lalit Kumar (Wrestling)
- RB Ramesh (Chess)
- Mahaveer Prasad Saini (Para-athletics)
- Shivendra Singh (Hockey)
- Ganesh Prabhakar Devrukhkar (Mallakhamb)
4. Dhyan Chand Award-
The Dhyan Chand Award is given to people who have made a lifetime contribution to sports development. Winners receive a Dhyan Chand statuette, a certificate, a ceremonial dress, and a cash prize of ₹10 lakh.
This year 3 sportspersons got this award-
- Manjusha Kanwar (Badminton)
- Vineet Kumar Sharma (Hockey)
- Kavitha Selvaraj (Kabaddi)
5. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy (MAKA Trophy)-
The Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy is awarded to the university with the best performance in inter-university tournaments in the last one year.
This year 3 universities got this award-
- Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (Winner)
- Lovely Professional University, Punjab (1st runner-up)
- Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra (2nd runner-up)
6. Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar-
The Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar is awarded to organizations (both private and public) and individuals who have played a significant role in promoting and developing sports over the last three years.
There are two awardees this year of this award-
| Category | Entity awarded for Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar 2023 |
| 1. Identification and nurturing of budding /young talent | Jain Deemed to be University, Bengaluru |
| 2. Encouragement to sports through Corporate Social Responsibility | Odisha Mining Corporate Limited |