By OUR STAFF REPORTER
Mumbai, 13 Nov: Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari presented the ‘Gadh Ratna’ and ‘Uttarakhand Samaj Gaurav Samman 2022’ to distinguished personalities from Uttarakhand at a function held at Raj Bhavan, here, today. The Awards function was organised by Mumbai’s 94- year old organiastion, ‘Garhwal Bhratru Mandal, Mumbai’.
President of Garhwal Bhratru Mandal Raman Mohan Kukreti and General Secretary Manoj Dwivedi were present on the occasion.
The prestigious ‘Gadh Ratna’ Samman was presented by the Governor to Professor Dr Data Ram Purohit for his work on the promotion of folk art, folk culture and folk musical instruments.
Governor Koshyari said Uttarakhand may be a small state, but its people today are omnipresent. He said despite coming to Mumbai under adverse conditions, the people of Uttarakhand made their mark in Maharashtra with their honesty, affable nature and hard work. He said it fills him with pride when he sees the children of Uttarakhand people becoming pilots, businesspersons, academicians and successful leaders in their chosen fields.
The Governor appealed to the Uttarakhandis of Mumbai to preserve Garhwali, Kumauni and other languages and dialects, while also learning Marathi. He said interacting among themselves in their mother tongue would connect them to the history and culture of their home state.
The Uttarakhand Samaj Gaurav Samman were presented by the Governor to Manmohan Nautiyal, Birendra Prasad Badoni, Maj Shambhu Prasad Mishra (Retd), Banshidhar Gairola, Harishchandra Dabral, Bachchiram Uniyal, Purna Chandra Balodi, Mahavir Singh Bisht, Dr Shridhar Prasad Thapliyal, Balkrishna Narottam Sharma, Bhishma Kukreti, Janardan Prasad Sharma Godiyal, Dayaram Sati and others. The Samman was presented posthumously to some of the past members of the Garhwal Bhratru Mandal.
The Governor also released the Mandal’s souvenir on the occasion.
