he year 2018.The Ekalabya Committee unanimously selected the woman hockey player for the award at a meeting held in Bhubaneswar on Sunday. The annual award comprises a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh and a citation.
Lilima Minz, a native of Bihabandh-Tanatoli village in Lanjiberna block of Sundargarh district, represented the Indian senior team for the first time in 2011 during a four-nation tournament in Argentina.
She was part of the squad that represented the country in the 2016 summer Olympics and member of the Indian team that won gold medal in Women’s Hockey Asia Cup after a gap of 13 years in Japan on November 5, 2017.
Similarly, weightlifter Jhili Dalabehera and badminton player Rituparna Panda will be felicitated by the Ekalabya Committee for their remarkable performances in their respective fields. They will get a cash award of Rs 50,000 each and citations.
The Ekalabya Puraskar has been instituted by Indian Metals Public Charitable Trust (IMPaCT), the social wing of Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys (IMFA) Limited.
Prasanta Patnaik