'Arjuna guidelines not because of Milkha's outburst'

Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Uma Bharti categorically denied that the new Arjuna awards guidelines, which the government submitted before the Delhi high court on Wednesday, have anything to do with legendary athlete Milkha Singh's rejection of the award for lifetime contribution.

Milkha had refused to accept the Arjuna award for lifetime contribution after he found that nonentities in sports had been named for the same award. One of them was Ms Rachna Govil, an official in the Sports Authority of India. Her nomination for the award was challenged in the Delhi high court by Asian discuss throw champion Anil Kumar.

Milkha had demanded that a committee of sports persons, who have nothing to do with politics and had achieved success at the international level, should decide on the winners of the award.

"I am not aware what Milkha Singh had said. The only thing that I remember, which he told me, was that he deserved a higher award," Ms Bharti told newsmen, at a hurriedly called press conference, in Delhi on Wednesday.

When asked if the suggestions of Milkha were incorporated in the guidelines while deciding that only Olympians and Arjuna awardees, besides three members from the government would be on the committee, Bharti tried to wriggle out of a tight corner, saying she was not aware if he had even made any suggestions.

However, a junior official admitted that like many other sports persons and Olympians, the 'Flying Sikh' too had offered suggestions and the same were incorporated by the government in the new guidelines.

Ms Bharti said the government also decided that if any athlete is found guilty of doping, he/she would be stripped of the award.

"We would not only ask the concerned athlete to return the honour but also take strict action against those who recommended the name of the concerned athlete," she said.

Would you include match-fixing in the guidelines for stripping the award?

"No; if we do that, we would be admitting that we are involved in match-fixing all the time. This is not the case," she claimed.

She categorically refuted news reports that the budget for sports has been slashed. "This is not true. As against Rs 255 crore [2.55 billion] allotted to the ministry of sports for the year 2001-2002, the budget this year has been increased to Rs 285 crore [2.85 billion] -- an increase of Rs 30 crore [300 million]," she explained.

She refused to field questions on the resumption of cricket ties between India and Pakistan.

Would Ms Rachna Govil and others be stripped of the award should the court rule against them? "

"The ruling of the court would be implemented. We have decided to implement new guidelines so as to clear any doubts about the credentials of those who receive the awards. Now a 13-member committee would be headed by an eminent sports person. The minister of sports would have nothing to do with its recommendations and would merely implement the decision of the committee," she added.