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Odisha Government today conferred the Biju Patnaik Sports Awards, the highest state honour in the field of sports, for the year 2016, on the occasion of National Sports Day, which was also 113th birth day of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik handed over the awards in five categories in a function held here at Jayadev Bhawan. Athletics Olympian Dutee Chand received the Award for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, hich carried a trophy, citation and cash award of Rs 2 lakh.
Rourkela-based athletics coach Panchanan Gantayat, who as an athlete represented the country in the 1996 SAF Games and as a coach groomed Olympic sprinters Rachita Mistri (earlier Panda) and Anuradha Biswal, bagged Life-Time Achievement in Promotion of Sports & Games Award along with a cheque of Rs 3 lakh.
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The Award in the category of Excellence in Coaching went to Bhubaneswar Sports Hostel’s women kabaddi coach Sanhita Das, which received a cheque of Rs 1 lakh. Senior sports scribe Rajani Kanta Satrusalya and senior photographer Ashok Kumar Panda shared the Award for Excellence in Sports Journalism, which carried a purse of Rs 50,000. Martial art and powersports exponent Hari Prasad Pattanayak pocketed award and cheque of Rs 50,000 for Best Contribution to Promotion of Sports and Games.
The Chief Minister also distributed a total cash incentive of Rs 59 lakh among 10 sportspersons for fetching international laurels for the state. Para badminton player Pramod Bhagat was the biggest beneficiary among them, receiving Rs 13.5 lakh, while para athlete Jayanti Behera was given Rs 12 lakh.
Similarly, Special Olympic athletes Rajesh Meher and beach volleyball player Sarita Routaray received Rs 8 lakh and Rs 2.5 lakh respectively. Hockey international Dipsan Tirkey got Rs 8 lakh, while World Cup winning blind cricketers Jafar Iqbal and Sukhram Majhi became richer by Rs 5 lakh each. G Narahari received Rs 3 lakh for crossing English Channel in relay format, while World Police and Fire Games medalists Bonita Lakra and Bighnaraj Miridia were awarded Rs 1 lakh each.
BOOST FOR INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITY: Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Patnaik revealed that the State Governement was planning to set up a `Sports City’ in Bhubaneswar with world-class facilities. ``Besides, integrated sports complexes will also be established in Cuttack, Berhampur, Sambalpur, Rourkela and Jeypore with an initial outlay of Rs 96 crore under the `Sports With Aim For International Acclaim’ (SWARNA) Scheme,’’ he said.
``An additional funding of Rs 15 lakh will be provided to 150 block-level mini-stadiums to develop them as `Krida Vikash Kendras’,’’ he added. Sports and Youth Services Minister Chandra Sarathi Behera, Sports & Youth Services Secretary Vishal Kumar Dev and Director Vineel Krishna were present in the function.
CONTROVERSY: As usual, the selection process for this year’s Biju Patnaik Sports Awards kicked up controversy. But the government chose to go by the recommendations of the seven-member jury committee, which finalised the names of the awardees in a meeting held earlier on August 1.
The committee had been formed under the chairmanship of Sports and Youth Services secretary Visha Kumar Dev and included Sports Director Vineel Krishna, senior IAS officer Madhu Sudhan Padhy, Olympians Anuradha Biswal, Lajrus Barla and K Ravi Kumar and senior journalist Sushant Mohanty.
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TOP: Biju Patnaik Sports Awardees with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and other guests in Bhubaneswar on August 29, 2017.
RIGHT: Rajanikanta Satrusalya with Biju Patnaik Award for Excellence in Sports Journalism on August 29, 2017.
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