Oops, the ministry does it again!

8226; TT player Mantu Ghosh has been bestowed with the honour in 2002 8212; and now also 2004

Mercifully, only one awardee8217;s picture 8212; that of Amar Prakash 8212; is missing from the booklet this year. The Naib Subedar was honoured with the Tenzing Norgay National Adven-ture award.

The major goof-up, of course, concerns Rajiv Khel Ratna awardee Lt Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. Known to be a stickler for protocol and dignity, the photograph printed shows him in civilian dress, in a polo-neck T-shirt.

The last two cases, especially, cannot be passed off as printer8217;s devils; they are clear examples of shoddy work, where the pictures could not be obtained in time. More8217;s the pity given that these books are collector8217;s items, especially for the award-winners.

Things would have been worse but for some damage control by the ministry after it first missed the name of Abhinn Shyam Gupta.

The badminton player8217;s name was third on the original list that came with the Prime Minister8217;s signature. But his name was missing from among those released to the media.