Dilip Tirkey hopes campaign will bring Bharat Ratna for Dhyan Chand

BHUBANESHWAR: Former India Hockey Captain and Biju Janata Dal MP Dilip Tirkey has begun a campaign that he hopes will finally get the government to award his idol, Major Dhyan Chand, with the Bharat Ratna.

On Sunday, Tirkey and other former Indian hockey stars, including the legend’s son Ashok Kumar, got together at Jantar Mantan in Delhi. It was a well-attended and well publicised fresh attempt to highlight this sorry omission. “It is not only disappointing that despite the past pleas Dhyan Chand has not been recognised with India’s highest civilian award but also discriminatory towards the game,” Tirkey told ET. Ironically announcing his plans to create future Olympic medalists, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Man ki baat radio address, on the same day also referred to Chand.

Sports was made an eligible category for the award in 2011. Chand’s fans had then been convinced the late Chand, who in pre-independence won India three Olympic golds (1928, 1932 and 1936), would be conferred with the honour. Afterall August 29, his birthday, is celebrated as National Sports Day.

Many parliamentarians had petitioned for this, the sports and home ministry had recommended his name, but it was Sachin Tendulkar, also arguably on row the world's greatest cricketers, who was given the Bharat Ratna instead.

“During the 1936 Olympics Hitler even offered him a job in the German. Chand declined saying he wanted to promote sports, back in his home country,” says Tirkey.

Tirkey who began his political career in 2014 with an unsuccessful contest for the Lok Sabha seat of sundargarh. His party though later sent him to the upper house. Soft spoken to a fault, Tirkey is hoping to grow into a leader who can represent the needs and issues of Odisha’s large tribal population many of who hope to use sports to change their fortunes.

Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Tirkey pointed out that only 11773 kids are being trained in sports hostels, in a country as large as India. “It is not enough to provide the best training to the national team. What is really critical given the demands of the game is that we give hostels and academies world class trainers and physics,” he says.

More significantly, while India has budgeted Rs 1592 crore for sports for FY 2015-16, a country like Jamaica spends Rs 4282 crore a year, points out Tirkey.