Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government Monday withdrew a notification that sought to rename the Biju Patnaik Sports Award, according to an official order.
The fresh order was issued a day after Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi clarified that the state award would not be renamed.
“The guidelines for the Biju Patnaik Sports Award shall continue to remain in force. This department notification issued July 19 is hereby withdrawn,” the Sports Department said in the fresh order.
The opposition BJD, headed by Biju Patnaik’s son Naveen Patnaik, had strongly criticised the BJP government for renaming the award as ‘Rajya Krida Samman’.
The previous BJD government, led by Naveen Patnaik, instituted the award in 2001-2002 to felicitate sports personalities and excellence in sports journalism. The award is given in eight categories every year.
PTI