Coach Panchanan Gantayat, trainer Sanhita Das and woman athlete Dutee Chand have been selected to get the Biju Patnaik Sports Award, the highest sports award of Odisha government, for the year 2016.
While Panchanan has been nominated for lifetime Achievement award, Sanhita Das and Olympian Dutee Chand will be conferred the best trainer and best sportsperson awards of the year respectively.
Similarly, sports teacher Hari Prasad Pattanayak, who is also the founder of Utkal Karate School, has been selected to receive the Best Sports Administrator award. Veteran sports journalist Rajnikant Shatrusalya and photo journalist Ashok Panda will be awarded for their contribution in field sports journalism in Odisha.
The names selected for the awards at selection committee meeting of the Biju Patnaik Sports Award held on Tuesday here will be officially announced after government approval.
Panchanan will receive the lifetime Achievement Award, which carries a trophy, cash award of Rs 3 lakh and certificate, for his contribution to sports in Odisha. Indian ace sprinter Dutee will receive a trophy, Rs 2 lakh cash prize and a certificate. Best trainer Sanhita and Sports Administrator Hari Prasad Pattanayak will be awarded with cash prize Rs 1 lakh each. Rajnikant and Ashok Panda will receive Rs 50,000 each in the category of Best Sports Journalism.
The awards will be conferred on the selected candidates during a function in Bhubaneswar on the National Sports Day on August 29.