Bhubaneswar: The State government has renamed the Biju Patnaik Sports Award as ‘Odisha Rajya Krida Samman’. The cash rewards, however, remain unchanged.
The Odisha Rajya Krida Samman’ will be awarded in eight categories annually. Odisha Sports and Youth Services Department on Friday issued guidelines for the award.
As per the guidelines, the lifetime achievement award for promoting sports will carry a cash prize of Rs 3 lakh, while Rs 2 lakh will be awarded for outstanding performance in sports, and Rs 1 lakh for excellence in coaching.
Similarly, a cash award of Rs 1 lakh will be given in each of the following categories – best contribution to sports promotion, excellence in sports journalism, para-sports person of the year, upcoming athlete of the year (junior category), and sports technical official/support staff of the year.
The award recipient must be a resident of Odisha with no criminal records. It will be conferred only once per lifetime per category and can be awarded posthumously to the next of kin.
The Sports and Youth Services Department secretary will constitute a five-member scrutiny committee comprising senior officials and coaches of the department with sports director or the senior most officer of the department as head of the panel.
The awards will be presented in a special ceremony on National Sports Day (August 29) every year.
