MP mountaineer claims he missed top sports award due to officials' negligence

Indore, Aug 7 (PTI) Mountaineer Madhusudan Patidar, who climbed Mount Everest at the age of 20, on Thursday alleged that he missed the top sports award of Madhya Pradesh due to the negligence of government officials.

An official, however, said the `Vikram Award' is given on the basis of achievements in the preceding five years, and Patidar had reached the summit of the world's highest peak eight years ago, in 2017.

On Patidar's petition, the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Tuesday stayed the conferment of the award for 2023 in the category of adventure sports to another mountaineer, Bhavana Dehariya.

Dehariya too has climbed Mount Everest.

The High Court issued the interim stay order a few hours before the award distribution ceremony on Tuesday evening.

Speaking at a press conference in Indore on Thursday, Patidar (29) said he had reached the summit of Everest on May 21, 2017, at the age of 20. To finance the expedition, he had mortgaged his house and taken a loan which he is still repaying, he said.

"The first Vikram Award in adventure sports was given for 2021. No player was given the award in the category for 2022. Deharia's name was declared for the 2023 award even though she had reached the summit of Everest in 2019, two years after me,'' he said.

Officials ignored his seniority, and thus deprived him of the award, he claimed.

Sports minister Vishwas Sarang told PTI that the government will present its side in the High Court. "Whatever the decision of the court may be, we will follow it. Injustice will not be allowed to happen to any player." A government official said that awards in the field of sports are given on the basis of special achievements in the preceding five years. In Patidar's case, he had reached the summit of Everest eight years ago.

The official cited the Madhya Pradesh Award Rules 2021 in this regard.

Under the rules, the award in the adventure sports category is given on the basis of "achievement and seniority", he said.

Dehariya (33) said she met all the criteria for the Vikram Award, and is going through a lot of mental agony as it was not given to her at the last moment.

"I had reached the Shikhar Khel Alankaran ceremony to receive the award, but at the last moment sports department officials informed me about the High Court's stay order," she said, adding that she was confident of getting justice from the court.

The next hearing is scheduled for September 17.

The award consists of Rs 2 lakh and a memento. Its recipients are also given government jobs. PTI HWP MAS KRK