Odisha Channel Bureau
Bhubaneswar: The prestigious annual award ‘Ekalabya Puraskar’ for the current year was presented to hockey star Namita Toppo here on Sunday.
Toppo was honoured for her performance from April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2020 at
both national and international levels.
Toppo was presented with citation, trophy and five rupees cash in a simple and short ceremony held in compliance with the COVID-19 restrictions.
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Weightlifter Sneha Soren and badminton player Rutaparna Panda also were honored with a citation and 50,000 rupees cash award each.
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 morale 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.
