The Union Home Ministry has recommended the name of hockey wizard Major Dhyan Chand for the highest civilian honour of Bharat Ratna.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said although no formal recommendation for the Bharat Ratna was necessary, the Ministry had received recommendations from several quarters for the Bharat Ratna to the late Major Dhyan Chand. “These recommendations have been forwarded to the Prime Minister’s Office,” he said.
The Bharat Ratna is awarded in recognition of exceptional service or performance of the highest order in any field of human endeavour.
The Ministry’s recent move to requisition five Bharat Ratna medallions from the RBI has led to speculation that there might be more than one recipient of the award this year and that among those being considered are former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Madan Mohan Malviya.
