Bhubaneswar, Dec 17 (IANS): The Odisha government on Friday felicitated 237 sportspersons from across the state in recognition of their outstanding performance at the national and international level.
Sports and Youth Services Minister Tusharkanti Behera felicitated the athletes with cash prizes in the presence of department secretary R. Vineel Krishna here.
Cash prizes of Rs 1.08 crore were awarded to the athletes across various sporting disciplines. Out of the 237 athletes who were awarded cash prizes, 172 were in the general category, while 65 were in the para category, officials said.
"We have been able to build infrastructure for players to excel in their respective events. We have built 11 high performance centres (HPCs) in the state for the benefit of the athletes," Behera said.