The prestigious annual Odisha Citizens Award 2023, instituted by the Odisha Television Network, were conferred on nine distinguished personalities in recognition of their contribution to society in their respective fields.
At a special ceremony organised in Bhubaneswar, Governor Raghubar Das, who attended the event as the Chief Guest, felicitated the awardees in the presence of Odisha’s ex-chief secretary Bijay Patnaik and director of Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Sambalpur, Mahadeo Jaiswal, who attended the ceremony as the guest of honour.
Here is the list of winners:
Politics: Leader of Opposition (LoP) and Sambalpur’s BJP leader Jaynarayan Mishra
Social Service: Dr Shankar Ramchandani
Health: Dr Bibhuti Bhusan Nayak
Agriculture: Sapan Patra
Art & Culture: Rupashree Mohapatra
Business: Abhijit Sahu
Education: Prof Dr Ranjan Kumar Bal
Entertainment: Actor Ashrumochan Mohanty
Sports: Kishore Jena
On this occasion, Governor Raghubar Das congratulated the winners. “For those who have won the awards, it is not only an award but an overnight identity given to you by OTV. This award recognises personal and collective achievements. But I also know that none can achieve such recognition and honour on their own. For this, I would like to extend my special thanks to the winners along with their family members, friends and colleagues.”
While delivering her welcome address, Odisha Television Network MD, Jagi Mangat Panda said, “In its journey, OTV has not limited it to news but it has also taken several initiatives. The Odisha Citizens Award is one of those initiatives. Our aim is to bring those personalities, who keep inspiring us by doing some noble deeds, to the limelight and honour them. This initiative entered its 11th year and Odias living in Odisha as well as outside have participated in the voting.”
For this eleventh edition of the Odisha Citizens Award, the judges first shortlisted four personalities in each category in two phases. Then the names of the winners were announced based on online voting.