Bhubaneswar, Dec 24: Sprinting sensation Dutee Chand received the prestigious ‘Ekalabya Puraskar’ for 2015 at a special function here on wednesday.
The award, instituted by Indian Metals Public Charitable Trust (IMPaCT), the charity wing of IMFA, carries a cash award of Rs 5 lakh and a bronze citation.
Chess queen Saina Salonika and weightlifter Pramila Kirsani also felicitated with cash award and a citation each.
Dutee bagged her last gold in the 100 meter women in the 35th National Games at Kerala by clocking 11.76 seconds in February. Dutee secured bronze medal in 100 women events with timing of 12.10 seconds in the 55th National Inter State Senior Athletic Championship at Chennai in the July.
Sports minister Sudam Marandi, Secretary of Women and Child Development department Vishal Dev, Kendrapara MP and Trustee of Indian Metals Public Charitable Trust (IMPaCT) Baijayant Panda were present on the occasion.
Among the winners of this prestigious award are former captain of the Indian hockey team Dillip Tirkey, International cricketer Debashish Mohanty, star athlete Anuradha Biswal, weightlifter K Ravi Kumar, international chess player Padmini Rout and ace shooter Shreyanka Sarangi.
