Mahendra Singh Dhoni: Second choice

Ranchi, Jan. 29: Olympic heroes Vijendra Kumar and Sushil Kumar, nursing a grudge at being denied a Padma award, will be no less unhappy to know that cricketer M.S. Dhoni’s entry into the list was a bureaucratic afterthought since his home state of Jharkhand couldn’t justify their original choices.

According to highly placed sources in the state home department, Jharkhand was initially rooting for two doctors — one based in Hazaribagh and the other in Bokaro — but included the rather obvious choice in panic after officials apparently found nothing extraordinary about them to merit the coveted Republic Day honour.

CPI MP Bhuvneshwar Mehta had recommended surgeon Heeralal Saha, who is attached to a private nursing home and is well known in Hazaribagh. Former chief minister Shibu Soren and Union minister of state for food processing Subodh Kant Sahay named Rakesh Srivastava, a doctor working at a private nursing home in Bokaro.

But, when the selection committee, headed by chief secretary A.K. Basu and comprising secretaries of home, sports, art and culture and human resources departments, met earlier this month to finalise the nominees, they realised to their utter dismay that no other recommendations had been received.

“They sent out letters to the deputy commissioners of Hazaribagh and Bokaro for a detailed verification of the doctors’ resumes,” said a senior home department official. “But the DCs merely sent back their detailed resume to the home department.”

The selection committee, which met again to finalise the list, realised that more prominent names — those with pronounced achievements behind them — had to be included. The search began and ended with Team India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Dhoni’s name topped the state’s list, followed by Saha’s and Srivastava’s. The list was placed before Soren — he was then chief minister — who approved it and was then sent to the Union home ministry.

“They (the Union home ministry) finally decided to confer the award on Dhoni,” the official added.

Saha, however, is not amused. Furious at being denied the Padma Shri, the septuagenarian said he head been “serving the people of the state ever since I returned from England in 1983”.

Claiming he was among a few who had performed a record number of surgeries in their career, Saha blamed the state’s leadership for the fiasco.

“Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is better. He can get awards for his state. Refusal in my case is an insult to Jharkhand,” he said.

Srivastava was far more generous. He said he wasn’t disheartened in the least and would “work hard among the people” to try for the award next year. “The journey has just begun. It is not the end of life. If the Almighty helps, it is never too late,” he told The Telegraph from Aurangabad, where he was travelling.

Home secretary J.B Tubid refused to comment on how Dhoni’s name got into the list but confirmed the short-listing procedure. “Nominations from the state for the Padma Shri are being sent to the Centre with effect from 2004. Before that, no names were either recommended, nor were they sent to the Union home ministry,” he said.

Tubid said anyone can recommend someone for the award to the state government, highlighting his/her distinguished contribution. “Individuals, groups and others need to take the lead in nominating suitable candidates from Jharkhand for the country’s prestigious honours’ list so that they are an inspiration to others. Moreover, the state too gets a good name,” he added.

(With inputs from Vishvendu Jaipuriar in Hazaribagh and Shahank Shekhar in Bokaro)