Former Commonwealth Games gold medallist Manoj Kumar on Wednesday wrote to Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, requesting him to consider his longtime coach Rajesh Kumar for this year's Dronacharya award.
New Delhi:
The Selection Committee on Monday recommended 13 names for the Dronacharya award and Rajesh's name was missing from the list, which irked the senior boxer.
"Dear Rijiju sir, I, Manoj Kumar, two-time Olympian and Commonwealth Games medallist, have immense faith in you and am hoping for a positive response to this letter.
"I request you to once see into the matter of Dronacharya award names announced for the year. I request you to consider the achievement of my coach Rajesh Kumar and help him in getting his achievements recognized as you are our last hope in this matter," Manoj wrote in the letter, a copy of which is with IANS.
"If once again hard work of a coach and his disciple is ignored and not rewarded then how will new talent be motivated? I myself after serving the country for 23 years have to struggle this much to get recognition of my coach efforts. When there can be more than one award in hockey than why can't it be in boxing also. Hoping for a quick and positive response from your side," he added.
Interestingly, Manoj was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2014. Earning the award for his performance should have been natural and easy but he had to struggle and fight a legal petition against the selection committee. Later, the Delhi High Court looked into the facts and directed the government to honour him with the award.