Arjuna Award is India’s second highest sporting honour. The Arjuna Awards are given by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to recognize outstanding achievement in sports since 1961. Five sports persons from Assam had received this prestigious award till now.

1. Bhogeswar Baruah:

Bhogeswar Baruah was the first sportsperson to be inducted with the Arjuna Award from Assam, and he won it in 1966. He bagged a gold medal in the 800m race at the Asian Games, held in Bangkok in 1966. To commemorate his contributions, Assam celebrates his birthday, 3 September as Abhiruchi Sports Day

2. Monalisa Baruah Mehta:

Monalisa Baruah Mehta, the table tennis champion, was the second person from Assam to win the Arjuna Award, which she won in 1987. She married to fellow table tennis player Kamalesh Mehta and for many years kept dominating Indian table tennis as well. She won the state championship twelve times and won the national championship eight times.

3. Jayanta Talukdar:

Jayanta Talukdar was the third sportsperson from Assam who won the Arjuna Award in 2006. The first is Bhogeswar Baruah and then Monalisa Baruah Mehta. He represented the India men’s recurve archery team in the 2012 London Olympics.

4. Shiva Thapa:

Boxer Shiva Thapa, who won a bronze medal at the World Championships, has been short-listed for the Arjuna Award in 2016. He is the fourth Assamese to get the same and was the only boxer recommended for the award this year. He is also the youngest Indian boxer ever to qualify for the London 2012 Olympics.

5. Hima Das:

The last personality to be incorporated in Assamese Arjuna Awardees list is Hima Das who won the award in 2020. She has been described as India’s track queen. She is the second Assam-based athlete after Bhogeswar Baruah to have won this noble award.