Writers awarded ‘Uttarakhand Sahitya Gaurav Samman’
By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 21 Feb: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami presented the Uttarakhand Sahitya Gaurav Samman to 10 writers at a programme organised by the Uttarakhand Bhasha Sansthan at the IRDT Auditorium, here, today. While welcoming the authors and literature lovers from different parts of the state and country present at the Sahitya Gaurav Samman ceremony, the Chief Minister also extended his greetings for World Mother Language Day.
Those honoured today included Laxman Singh Bisht, Dr Sushil Upadhyay, and Punjabi poet Prem Sahil. Speaking on the occasion, the CM expected the Uttarakhand Bhasha Sansthan to play an important role in creating a literary village in the state by providing a wider level to its literary and linguistic activities, which would promote the development of local languages and dialects spoken in smaller areas of the state.
Dhami said that Uttarakhand is recognised as a state where there are many leading personalities who served languages and literature across the country like Sumitranandan Pant, Bhajan Singh, Govind Chatak, Gumani Pant, Shailesh Matiyani, Dr Pitambar Dutt Bartwal, Manohar Shyam Joshi, Gaura Pant ‘Shivani’, Shekhar Joshi, Liladhar Jagudi, Viren Dangwal, Girish Tiwari ‘Girda’ and Bhairav Dutt Dhulia. Apart from these, Elachandra Joshi, Omprakash Valmiki, Sardar Purna Singh, Prasun Joshi, Gangaprasad Vimal, Sherjung Garg, etc., have also made tremendous contributions.
Dhami also expressed happiness at the fact that, in today’s programme, many authors writing in local and regional languages and enriching the state’s literary development have also been included for the honour. He said that the society that does not respect its language and dialects loses its esteem. He called upon the common people to help conserve and promote their languages and dialects, especially while communicating with their children. The CM expressed hope that, through this programme, discussions would be held among the writers on the need to conserve, develop and enrich Hindi and the local languages of the state. The Bhasha Sansthan would incorporate their important suggestions in its future action plan.
Appreciating the efforts of Uttarakhand Bhasha Sansthan, the CM said that since its inception, it has taken up many important tasks. He claimed that the government has restructured the Sansthan by bringing the Hindi Academy, Punjabi Academy, Urdu Academy and Lok Bhasha Boli Academy under one roof, while maintaining the autonomy of each.
Those who were honoured with various awards today by the Bhasha Sansthan by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Bhasha Minister Subodh Uniyal were Prof Laxman Singh Batrohi with the Sumitranandan Pant Award, Dr Sushil Upadhyay with the Shailesh Matiyani Award, Dr Lalit Mohan Pant with the Pt Pitambar Dutt Bartwal Award, Prem Sahil with the Adhyapak Purna Singh Award (Punjabi), Ganesh Khugshal Gani with Bhairav Dutt Barthwal Award, Prof Shaily with Mahadevi Verma Award. Girish Sundriyal with Bhajan Singh Award, Suresh Mamgain with Govind Chatak Award and KA Khan (Nadeem Barni) with Unwan Chishti Award (Urdu).
Bhasha Minister and Executive Chairman of Bhasha Sansthan Subodh Uniyal congratulated the winners and said that the writers have an important place in society. He also observed that in the absence of patriotic writers in the British era, the movement for independence would not have gained momentum. Even in the current era, the writers and artists play a crucial role in shaping the vision of the society and give it a positive direction.
Former Chief Secretary Indu Kumar Pandey was the keynote speaker of the day. He observed that in all the mantras of the Vedas, the most ancient works of literature, the Gods have been invoked. The word itself has been given the name of Brahma in Indian tradition.
MLA Khajan Das, Director, Uttarakhand Language Institute, Swati S Bhadauria, Dr Sudha Pandey also addressed the gathering. On this occasion, the Chief Minister and other dignitaries also released the magazine of the institute and a booklet named Paran on Kumaoni language literature. Hemant Bisht successfully managed the stage.