Sahitya Akadami ‘s YUVA PURASKAR 2023 presented on National Youth Day in Kolkata

By : PARTHA ROY

 Sahitya Akademi organized presentation ceremony of its Yuva Puraskar 2023 awards to young writters at Rabindra Sadan Auditorium, in Kolkata on 12th January 2023 which is observed as National Youth Day and happens to be 161st Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. 
 Awards were presented to 22 Award winners by Sri Madhav Kaushik, President of the Sahitya Akademi. The awards were accompanied by an engraved copper plaque and a cheque of ₹50,000/-. Before the presentation of the awards, citations were read out by Dr K. Sreenivasarao, Secretary, Sahitya Akademi. The award winners were felicitated with a bouquet by Professor Kumud Sharma, Vice President , Sahitya Akademi. The award winners were Jintu Thakuria (Assamese), Hamiruddin Middya (Bengali), Mainaosri Daimary (Bodo), Dheeraj Kumar Raina (Dogri), Anirudh Kanisetti (English), Atul Kumar Rai (Hindi), Manjunayak Chelluru (Kannada), Nighat Nasreen (Kashmiri), Tanvi Shridhar Kamat Bambolkar (Konkani), Sanskriti Mishra (Maithili), Ganesh Puthur (Malayalam), Thingnam Parshuram (Manipuri), Vishakha Vishwanath (Marathi), Nayan Kala Devi (Nepali), Dileswar Rana (Odia), Sandeep Sharma (Punjabi), Devi Lal Mahiya (Rajasthani), Madhusoodan Mishra (Sanskrit), Bapi Tudu (Santali), Monika Panjwani (Sindhi), Ram Thangam (Tamil), Takkedasila Johny (Telugu) and Tauseef Khan (Urdu). Among them Dheeraj Kumar Raina could not be present in the award presentation ceremony. , Dr K. Sreenivasarao, Secretary, SahityaAkademi,in his welcome address recalled the enthusiastic words of Swami Vivekananda as he was one of the greatest flag-bearers of youth. He referred to the luminaries who had gained excellence across different streams of knowledge in their youth. It is the duty of the society to provide the young minds with necessary reading materials necessary for proper grooming. The promotion of young writers is needed for the upliftment of society. He also informed the audience of major projects of Sahitya Akademi like YuvaSahiti, Navodaya Prakalpa and travel grant which are specifically designed to the give the young writers a wider platform. In his presidential address, Sri Madhav Kaushik, President, Sahitya Akademi, said that young writers are the future of Indian literature. 
While drawing attention to the view of 22 writers of different Indian languages gracing the occasion and sitting on the same platform, Kaushik said that it seems that the entire Indian literature is sitting on the dais. As romance and rebellion forms the crux of youth they can challenge and redefine the tradition. As they are aware of the changing scenario of Indian literature and culture they can bring in the highest level of excellence by mixing tradition with modernity. Chief Guest of the ceremony Dr Subodh Sarkar, eminent Bengali poet, expressed his happiness for being present in this great occasion of giving recognition to the budding writers. Referring to some of the eminent writers of the world, Sarkar said that every young writer tends to be skeptical about the validity and success of his/her writings. Expressing his regret over the attack on writers all over the world, he expressed his hope that the rebellious spirit of the young writers can give birth to new possibilities.  In her comcluding remarks, Prof.Kumud Sharma, Vice President of Sahitya Akademi, focused on the importance of proper guidance for the young minds. The young authors must apply their enthusiasm in proper channel, she opined. In this context, she pointed out to the fact that in this age of social media, writers are getting extended platform without much hurdle to get themselves recognized. But she also cautioned the young writers saying that they should take time for mature writing.   Large number of writers, scholars and literature-lovers attended the award presention ceremony.       
 On 13th January 2024 , Sahitya Akademi organised Yuva Puraskar 2023 Awardees Meet  at its auditorium in Kolkata. Awardees of various languages presented  sketch of their life journey to be an author as well as challenges they faced to publish their writings  . Awardees Meet was an  opportunity to meet and exchange notes amongst writters as well as interact with officials of Sahitya Akademi. 

Meet was attended by Dr. K Sreenivasarao , Madhav Kaushik, Dr. Devendra Kumar Devesh and others. Meet was chaired by Prof. Kumud Sharma Vice President of Sahitya Akademi. 

(This story has not been edited by News Mania staff and is published from a Media Release)