Odisha CM gives cash awards to Olympic hockey players

At a function held in Bhubaneswar’s Kalinga Stadium, Naveen Patnaik gave cheques of ₹2.5 crore each to the Indian men’s hockey team vice-captain Birendra Lakra and defender Amit Rohidas and ₹50 lakh each to Deep Grace Ekka and Namita Toppo of the women’s hockey team

Published on: Aug 11, 2021, 17:31:31 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday felicitated four Indian men and women hockey players from the state and gave them cash awards ranging from ₹50 lakh to ₹2.5 crore for their sterling performances at the recently concluded Tokyo Olympics.

Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik felicitates Indian men’s hockey team vice-captain Birendra Lakra. (Sourced)

At a function held in Bhubaneswar’s Kalinga Stadium, Patnaik gave cheques of ₹2.5 crore each to the Indian men’s hockey team vice-captain Birendra Lakra and defender Amit Rohidas following the national men team’s historic bronze medal-winning feat in Tokyo. The chief minister gave cheques of ₹50 lakh each to Deep Grace Ekka and Namita Toppo of the women’s hockey team as the women’s side reached the semi-final stage for the first time in the Olympics.

The Indian men’s team defeated Germany 5-4 to win the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, the country’s first medal in the sport after 41 years. The women’s team, however, lost to Great Britain in the bronze medal play-off.

Also Read | Odisha announces sports infra project worth ₹693.35 crore

Patnaik also handed Lakra and Rohidas offer letters for appointment as deputy superintendent of police in the state police department. Rohidas works as a ticket checker in Western Railway’s Mumbai division while Lakra works as assistant manager with state-run PSU Bharat Petroleum Limited.

Ekka presented the chief minister with the women’s team jersey signed by all the team members.

He lauded the performances of the two teams and advised them to continue their hard work and bring more laurels to the country.

The players expressed their gratitude with Lakra presenting the chief minister the Indian team jersey with signatures of all team members.

The ₹2.5 crore award money to the hockey players is the second-biggest amount offered to them by any state government.

The Punjab government announced that it would give ₹2.51 crore each to all the 11 players from the state who were part of the bronze medal-winning team. The Indian hockey team led by its captain Manpreet Singh and vice-captain Harmanpreet Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Simranjit Singh, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh, Shamsher Singh, Varun Kumar, Dilpreet Singh, Hardik Singh and Krishan Pathak are from Punjab.

Jharkhand will give ₹50 lakh each to all members of the Indian women’s hockey team who participated in the Tokyo Olympics. Their ancestral houses will be rebuilt into “pucca houses”.

Haryana government will honour the nine Indian women’s hockey team players from the state with a cash reward of ₹50 lakh each while Mizoram will give ₹25 lakh to their player Lalremsiami, a government job and a plot in her hometown. The Manipur government has already announced a cash reward of ₹75 lakh and a suitable job for Nilakanta Sharma, a member of Indian men’s hockey team. Manipur will also give ₹25 lakh and a government job to Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, one of the midfielders in the women’s hockey team.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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