Ganjam boy wins national art competition

BERHAMPUR: A 11-year-old boy from Ganjam district has brought laurels to the state by bagging the first prize at a national-level painting competition on water conservation held in New Delhi on January 21.
Shubhranshu Mishra of Bhanjnagar is a student of DAV Public School, Kalinga Nagar, Bhubaneswar. As part of the award, he received cash worth Rs one lakh and a merit certificate.The competition was organized by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), ministry of water resources. Union minister for water resources Harish Rawat presented the award to him.
The CBWG has been organizing the painting competition among school students (from Class IV to VI) across the country for the last three years with an aim to create awareness on the needs for water conservation. The competition was held in three stages inter-school, inter-state and at the national level.
Altogether around 21.4 lakh students of over 41,000 schools across the county participated in the mega event, sources said. "Shubhranshnu stood first at all levels and was awarded the cash prizes (Rs 1,000 at school level and Rs 10,000 at state level and Rs 1 lakh at national level)," his father Surya Narayan Mishra said. Around 90 competitors from 30 states and UTs participated in the final leg.
"I was confident to do well in the competition," a beaming Shubhranshu said. The theme was provided just five minutes before the start of the competition, he said. This year's theme was "save water, save the earth".
"My painting depicted utilization of water for various purposes, like irrigation, drinking water and day-to-day consumption," he added.
Subhranshu's art teacher Chintamani Biswal said, "He is extremely talented. I was also confident that he would do well in the national-level competition."