Odisha CM presents awards to sportspersons

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik presented the Biju Patnaik Sports Award to outstanding sportspersons and coaches on the occasion of National Sports Day on Saturday.

Jayanti Behera and Deep Grace Ekka received the award for outstanding performance in sports and games. Both of them received a Rs 2 lakh cash award each.

The Biju Patnaik Bravery Award was given to Purnima Giri and Sabita Giri who received a cash award of Rs 1 lakh each, medal and citation.

The Biju Patnaik Sports Award for excellence in coaching was conferred on Satya Ranjan Patnaik. He received a cash award of Rs 1 lakh.

Besides, Siba Prasad Das received a cash award of Rs 32.50 lakh for coaching sportspersons with disability.

Among others, Padmini Rout, Hupi Majhi, Rajashree Mohapatra, Manisha Merel, Pratyasha Ray also received cash awards.

The Chief Minister congratulated the award winners and spoke about the initiatives of the state for making Odisha a global centre of sports.

"I congratulate all the award winners on this occasion. They have displayed excellent talent and hard work and brought laurels to the state and country. The passion, drive and determination of these sportspersons are commendable and I wish them more glory in the times ahead," he said.

"A society that loves sport develops great potential for success in every other field. Our legendary leader Biju Babu himself was a great sportsperson and promoted sports all along his life. We are now in the process of realising his dreams of making Odisha a buzzing centre of sports," added the Chief Minister.

Former Indian Hockey Captain Dillip Tirkey said that Odisha will soon produce players who can participate in the Olympics and win medals for India.