Bhubaneswar, Jan 31 (PTI) Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday handed awards to schools and students for their academic performances.

A total of 7,519 awards were given along with cumulative prize money of Rs 138 crore in 16 categories under the 'Mukshyamanti Sikshya Puraskar'.

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A total of 2,027 students were awarded for their performances in the class 10 board examination. Four districts -- Balasore, Keonjhar, Jagatsinghpur and Jharsuguda -- were awarded for their performance in the board examinations.

Patnaik said the awards were given for the overall development of school education and the intellectual development of the children.

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"To turn education into a social movement and revolutionise the education system, transformational initiatives are taking place in the sector," he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)