He, however, lamented the lack of sports culture in the state. “Parents should encourage their children to take up sports. In this respect media and particularly sports journalism have a great role to play,” added Vivekananda, who was felicitated for his contribution to marathon running in Odisha.

“I have a fixed deposit of Rs 1,00,000 from my pensions. I give the interests earned from it it to the state marathon champion every year. I request all the sportspersons to come up with innovative ideas to encourage the promising sportspersons in their respective disciplines,” he further added.

“The government should involve corporate houses for the development of sports at the grassroots level. Infrastructure should be given top priority so that our State can produce more number of sportspersons in future,” FAO vice-president Bhaktaballav Das said during the event.

Joining the programme as a special guest, Odisha State Table Tennis Association secretary Rabindra Kumar Parida sought the help of media fraternity for the successful staging of the 80th Senior National Table Tennis Championship at Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium here early next year.

Sports journalists working in various media organisations from all across Odisha participated in the event. Senior sports journalists Surya Rath and Sambit Mohapatra were felicitated on the occasion for his dedication towards sports reporting and for being elected as executive member of Sports Journalists Federation of India (SJFI) for the third successive term.

OSJA president K Ravi, vice-presidents Sushant Mohanty and Suresh Swain; secretary Sanatan Pani, joint-secretary Debi Prasana Mohanty and other members of the association were present on the occasion.