By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: Look at the photo taken at Kalinga Stadium on Wednesday during the felicitation of Olympians on their return from Tokyo by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. 5T Secretary and the Man behind Chief Minister Patnaik’s all administrative and political decisions, VK Pandian greeting them with a very satisfied smile with 4 players hailing from the State representing Indian Hockey’s Men’s and Women’s team at Tokyo Olympics, reciprocating his commitment in promoting sports infrastructure in the State.
When recording serving 5times Odisha Chief Minister Patnaik was the goalkeeper of Doon School’s hockey team six decades ago, little did he know that he would later become the Patron of Indian hockey. If this happened , credit must goes to VK Pandian as he made it as a reality through his well coordination with both administrations and players.
Since past years, Odisha had improved a lot in terms of sports infrastructure because of Chief Minister Patnaik’s guidance with VK Pandian’s Team spirit in improving basic needs for promotions of sports including Hockey.
When Chief Minister Patnaik decided to sponsor both the Men’s and Women’s Hockey teams in 2018, pledging worth a massive Rs 120 Crore for a period of five years, he was VK Pandian who made it a reality by coordinating with all stakeholders as he is the most trusted IAS officer of CMO. After Sahara pulled out of the sponsorship, the Odisha government took over to ensure infrastructural and logistical support and bore the expenses for training and education. This was a historical measure for a cash-strapped state like Odisha became the first State of the Country to officially sponsor the National teams.
When Men’s Hockey player Manpreet Singh credited Patnaik for the achievement by saying . “This dream won’t be possible without the encouragement and vision of Honorable Chief Minister of Odisha Shri Naveen Patnaik ji and Odisha Sports who have been supporting us throughout this journey,”.
Odisha will host the 2023 Men’s hockey world cup for which the construction of India’s largest hockey stadium with 20,000-capacity in Rourkela is underway. It is touted to boost the development of hockey in Sundargarh. It will be the second venue apart from the Kalinga Stadium which the state will be hosting for the second time in a row. It was at the stadium in 2019 where Patnaik also received the FIH President’s Award for his contribution towards promoting sports including hockey.
Chief Minister Patnaik felicitated the players from the State in the Indian HockeyTeam at a function in Kalinga Stadium . Deep Grace Ekka, Namita Toppo, Birendra Lakra and Amit Rohidas were part of the teams which created history at the Tokyo2020.
Minister for Sports and Youth Services Tusharkanti Behera and Chairman, Odisha Hockey Promotion Council, Dilip Tirkey, Secretary 5-T V K Pandian and Secretary Sports R Vineel Krishna also graced the ceremony.
Chief Minister handed over the cash award of Rs 2.5 crores to Birendra Lakra & Amit Rohidas. CM also handed over the offer letter for appointment as Deputy Superintendent of Police in the Odisha Police . He appreciated the performance of the players in winning Bronze medal for the country.
Chief Miniser Patnaik also handed over cash award of Rs 50 lakhs each to Deep Grace Ekka and Namita Toppo, who were part of the Indian Women’s Hockey team at the Tokyo Olympics. He commended the spirited fight of the women’s team in reaching the semi-finals and creating history in Indian Hockey.
