Idiot

"To be selected for such a national honour and then getting the opportunity of receiving it from the President of India is a rare good fortune and must be treated with greatest respect. I certainly don't approve of any casualness in anyone's approach," Gill said.

And to ensure it does not happen again, the ministry would issue a new circular soon, he said.

"We will soon issue a new circular for public information and send a copy to the home ministry, which would inform the sportspersons about our policy to ensure that the players don't treat national awards with such casualness," Gill said.

The sports minister also lashed out at the practice of sending "substitutes" to the investiture ceremony and said such a thing was unthinkable in countries like England.

"As the sports minister, I was involved with national sports awards last year where the President gave away Arjuna, Dronacharya, Dhyan Chand and Tenzing Norgay awards. I was very surprised to see that a number of sportspersons sent substitutes to the ceremony. For me, this is totally unacceptable."

"Nobody in England can think about sending a substitute to the Queen in the annual award ceremony. I remember how Ian Botham received his Knighthood with all due respect for the Queen," Gill said.

He said it was also a clear violation of the sports ministry instruction to either personally receive the award or, in case of unavoidable reasons, send a letter of apology well before the event.

"After last year's sport awards, I held a meeting and issued a firm direction to all the federation and sport bodies that from now onwards, all sportspersons must receive his or her in person and would not be allowed to send substitutes to the President", Gill said.

"And if there are any genuine reasons prevent them from turning up, they must send an apology in advance so that at a later date the sports minister can give them the award," he added.

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New Delhi: They did India proud at the Olympics, but five months down the line, Sailesh Kumar and Vijendra Singh are now feeling sad at being overlooked for the Padma awards.

They have even found support from fellow Olympic hero Abhinav Bindra who has made it to the Padma Bushan list.

"Yes, I am disappointed to see that their names have been omitted," says Abhinav Bindra.

The controversy over this year's Padma awards goes beyond the sports category. Some feel that Aishwarya Rai got the honour because of the political affiliation of her in laws with the Samajwadi party. But the actress herself is unfazed.

"It's an absolute previlidge and honor and I am very thankful for this and I accept it graciously," says Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

This is not the first time that the national honours have been mired in controversy.

Sitar Maestro Ustad Vilayat Khan rejected the Padma Shri in 1964 and the Padma Vibhushan in 1968, saying the awards committee wasn't competent enough to judge his music.

Historian Romila Thapar turned down the Padma Bhushan in 1992 and 2005 because she wanted to accept awards only from academic institutions.

And Kathak queen Sitara Devi refused the Padma Bhushan in 2002, saying it is an "insult" as younger and lesser known people had got Padma Vibhushan.

Bharat Ratnas too have had their share of controversies. The awards to V V Giri, K Kamaraj, MG Ramachandran and Rajiv Gandhi raised eyebrows.

Even renowned vocalist Pandit Jasraj alleged that the sitar maestro Ravi Shankar had approached influential MPs to secure the coveted award in 1999.

All these controversies have made people question the credibility of these awards.

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Sports Minister M.S. Gill washes his hands off the Padma awards controversy in which Olympic heroes Vijender Singh and Sushil Kumar were being left out of the list.
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In an unkind twist to the Olympic medallists’ rejection, one of Kumar’s coaches says he got a call from the Sports Ministry on January 22, 2009 three days before the awardees were announced, informing him that both Kumar and Singh had been shortlisted. “The gentleman didn’t tell me his name. And, in my exhilaration, I forgot to ask. There is no point talking about it now. You’ll get nothing, however deep you dig,” the coach, who requested anony mity, told TEHELKA. Meanwhile, sources told TEHELKA that when Sports Minister MS Gill was informed about discrepancies in the awards, he chose to remain mum. “It is important not to get into this messy business,” Gill told one of his confidants at the Indian Olympic Association.

Similarly, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, who is also the president of Board for Control of Cricket in India, was silent when asked why VVS Laxman was ignored after being recommended. “Harbhajan Singh was not recommended,” says BCCI chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty. “I won’t comment beyond this.”
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When the awards are themselves a joke, and when the Hon. Minister cannot stand up for the athletes who come under the purview of his ministry, isnt it a bit rich for him to then comment on the propriety of the presence or absence of sportspersons who are not under his ministry?

And what of procedure - if he cops out when asked the reason for not nominating the athletes who represented India in the Olympics with distinction, isnt it a tad much that he speak procedure when MS DHoni and Harbhajan Singh make themselves unavailable for the ceremony?

Idiot.