By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: Prestigious ‘Ekalabya Puraskar’ given every year to encourage young sports talents of the State was presented to Hockey Star Namita Toppo for the current year. She was honored for performance from 1st April 2018 to 31st march 2020 at both national & international levels. Complying with Corona restrictions, Ms Toppo was presented with Citation, Trophy and Rs 5 Lakh cash in a simple and short program.
In this occasion, Weightlifter Sneha Soren and Badminton Player Rutaparna Panda also were honored with a Citation and Rs 50,000 cash awards each.Joining the event through internet, Ex- M.P Trustee Baijayant Panda congratulated the three great young talents who are being awarded by us today Namita Toppo, the 28th Ekalabya Puraskar winner and the two Citation winners Ms Sneha Soren & Ms Rutaparna Panda. He also assured that this long journey will continue to encourage the future sportspersons of Odisha.
Ekalabya Puraskar, instituted by IMPaCT managed by IMFA, the leading Ferro Alloys producer in the country, in the year 1993, has come a long way to be recognized as the most prestigious sports award of Odisha, drawing parallels with many national awards. A mere look at the career graph of many of the past awardees confirms that over the years, it has been a moral booster for the best sporting talents in the State. The award is given every year to young sportspersons of Odisha in recognition of their outstanding performance in the preceding two years.
