Sachin Tendulkar eligible for Bharat Ratna as PMO broadens norms

Agencies

New Delhi, 16 December 2011: Prime Minister’s Office today accepted the ministry of home affairs’ recommendation of broadening the Bharat Ratna norms and Excellence in all fields of human endeavour is the new eligibility norm.

 

Home minister P Chidambaram had backed the demand to broad-base the criteria for the award 

after sports minister Ajay Maken requested the home ministry for the inclusion of sports as a special category for awarding Bharat Ratna, the nation’s highest civilian award.

 

Sports heroes Sachin Tendulkar and Dhyan Chand are now eligible for the award.

 

 

The home ministry is the administrative ministry for the coveted award that is conferred on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. It was initially restricted for exceptional service towards advancement of Art, Literature and Science, and in recognition of public service of the highest order.

 

Maken’s communication to the home ministry to seek inclusion of sports came in the backdrop of a clamour for bestowing Tendulkar with the coveted award following India’s World Cup triumph.

 

Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi - who died earlier this year - is the last person to have been conferred the Bharat Ratna in 2009. It has been bestowed on 40 other personalities, 11 of them posthumously.