Biju Patnaik Sports Award presented to sportspersons

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday presented Biju Patnaik Sports Award to outstanding sportspersons and coaches on the occasion of National Sports Day celebrated through video conferencing.

Jayanti Behera and Deep Grace Ekka received Biju Patnaik Sports Award for outstanding performance in sports and games.  Both of them received Rs.2 lakh cash award each. 

Similarly, Biju Patnaik Bravery Award was received by Purnima Giri and Sabita Giri who received cash award of rupees one lakh each, medal and citation. 

Biju Patnaik Sports Award for excellence in coaching went to Satya Ranjan Patnaik.  He received a cash award of rupees one lakh.

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

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

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

The Chief Minister said, “Today we are celebrating National Sports Day on the birth anniversary of Indian Hockey legend Dhyan Chand. I pay my sincere tributes to the wizard of Indian hockey on this occasion.”

 “My greetings to all the Sports persons and sports lovers across the State on this great occasion. 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 added.

“I congratulate the two young girls of Kendrapada who have received the Bravery Award for showing such exceptional courage and saving many lives. They are indeed a shining example of selfless service and an inspiration for the youth,” said Patnaik.

“A society that loves sport develops great potential for success in every other field. Our legendary leader Biju Babu himself was a great sports person 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.

Odisha has become a major centre of sports activities in the last few years.  Today, Odisha is known globally as a hub of hockey and we are going to host yet another edition of Hockey World Cup in 2023,” said the Chief Minister.