Coaches, players still waiting for Guru Vashistha & Maharana Pratap Awards

Jaipur: The Sports department and Sports council of Rajasthan may be happy with the success of Rural Olympics but the government has upset players and coaches by not giving Maharana Pratap and Guru Vashistha Awards for four years. Last awards were given in the previous BJP government’s rule in September 2018 but after that, players and coaches are waiting for the awards. Maharana Pratap Awards are given to players while coaches get Guru Vashistha Awards. Applications are sought for the award, the Chief Minister also increases the amount of the award, but the awards are not given that is why the prestigious sports awards of the state have now become a distant dream. For 2018-19, 27 coaches had applied for the Guru Vashishtha Award, while 66 players had applied for the Pratap Award. Similarly, in 2019-20, 39 applications were received for Vashishtha Award and 113 for Pratap Award. The Sports Council sought applications twice for third year 2020-21 but due to indifference of the department, the applications were less and only 13 applications were received for Vashishtha Award and 24 applications for Pratap Award.