INVC,Haryana,
Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Bhupinder Singh Hooda today announced to institute a new award to commemorate the memory of noted folk litterateur and artist Mr. Baje Bhagat. The award carrying Rs. 51,000 in cash would be given away through Haryana Kala Parishad. Hooda was speaking at the Sahityakar Samman Samorah organized by Haryana Sahitya Akademi at Haryana Raj Bhawan where, he and the Governor Mr Jagannath Pahadia gave away awards to 32 litterateurs for the year 2011 and 2012 for their outstanding work in literature. While describing literature as the mirror of the society, Mr. Hooda said that only the literature could keep our culture alive and protected. He said that we feel proud that Haryana which is well known for its brave people also has a unique identity in the field of literature. It is the same sacred land where Vedas and Upanishads were created and the eternal message of Bhagvadgita was also delivered.Renowned poet Hali Panipati, Babu Bal Mukund Gupt and litterateur and journalist like Madhav Prasad Mishra and Lok Kavi Pt. Lakhmi Chand hailed from Haryana, added Mr. Hooda. He described Pt. Lakhmi Chand as the Shakespeare of Haryana and said that he was a great philosopher, statesman and had a keen foresight. Emphasizing the need to recognize and give due honour to outstanding litterateurs, Mr. Hooda said that they play a significant role in acquainting our young generation with rich values of our culture and tradition. The litterateurs educate the society, acquaint us with our history, culture and traditions, he added. Hooda said that after becoming the Chief Minister of Haryana in the year 2005, he decided to ensure the overall development of the State. To make the award money of Academies satisfactory, he has increased their amount by two-three times. Apart from this, to encourage the work in the areas of art, fine arts, history and culture, new Academies have been set up so that culture and literature get new dimensions. The budget of all the Academies has been increased by manifold so that they would not have to face any financial crunch in implementing its programmes and activities. Speaking on the occasions, Haryana Governor Mr. Jagannath Pahadiya urged the litterateurs to provide appropriate guidance to the society and culture through literature and also register their identity not at National but at international level. However, he said that literature and litterateur are not confined to any country or society instead they are the priceless heritage of the whole society. The Governor said that it was a matter of pride that the literature and culture of Haryana has a glorious history. This tradition started from Maharshi Vyas reaches the current litterateurs after passing through Ban Bhatt, Mahakavi Surdas, Babu Balmukund Gupt, Pt. Madav Prasad Mishr, Sufi Bu Ali Shah Kalandar and Altaf Husain Hali Panipati and Pt. Lakhmichand. He said that today Haryana is one of the leading States in the country in terms of development and prosperity. During the rule of present State Government, under the leadership of Chief Minister Mr. Bhupinder Singh Hooda, a new dimension of development has been witnessed. For the progress of literature of various languages and to encourage the litterateurs, Haryana Sahitya Academi, Granth Akademi, Sanskrit Academi, Panjabi Sahitya Academi, Urdu Academi and History and Culture Academies were functional in the State. Education Minister Mrs. Geeta Bhukkal urged the litterateurs to contribute in giving a new direction to the society and the country through their writings. While expressing concern over declining moral values, she said that the litterateurs could play a leading role in eradicating the evils from the society as merely enacting laws alone could not help in curbing the menace. She said that the today’s young generation spent a little time in reading books, therefore, she urged the litterateurs to put all their works on the website so that the students could have easy access to it. Later, Haryana Governor Mr. Jagannath Pahadi and Chief Minister Mr. Bhupinder Singh Hooda gave away awards to litterateurs for their outstanding works. Pandit Madhav Prasad Mishr Samman carrying Rs.2.5 lakh in cash and Mahakavi Surdaas Samman carrying prize money of Rs. 1.5 lakh for the year 2012 were conferred upon Dr. Puranchand Sharma and Dr. Rajbir Singh Dhankar respectively. Babu Balmukund Gupt Award for the year 2011 and 2012 was conferred upon Ramkumar ‘Attraya’ and Madhukant respectively. Lala Deshbandhu Gupt Award for year 2011 and 2012 was given away to Kewal Krishan Pathak and Arun Naithani respectively. Similarly, Pandit Lakhmi Chand Award for year 2011 and 2012 was conferred upon Dr. Savitri Vashist and Sumer Chand.Haryana Gaurav Samman for year 2011 was given away to Dr. Punyamchand Manav. Aditya-Alhar Hassya Samman for year 2011 and 2012 was conferred upon Manik Verma and Shri Jamini Haryanvi respectively. Jankavi Mehar Singh Samman for year 2011 and 2012 was given away to Raghuvir Singh Mathana and Dr. Vishvabandhu Sharma respectively. Shresth Mahila Rachnakaar Samman for year 2011 and 2012 was given away to Dr. Sudha Jain and Kamal Kapoor. All these awards carry a cash prize of Rs.one lakh each, scroll and a citation. Vishesh Sahitya Sevi Samman carrying Rs 51,000 in cash, for the year 2011, was given away to Dr. Lakshman Singh, Om Parkash Kadiyan, Dr. Shamim Sharma, Sandeep Joshi, Dr. Lal Chand Gupt ‘Mangal’, Manmohan Sapra, Dinesh Raghuvanshi, Rajbir Deswal, Halchal Haryanavi, Ram Sahaya Verma and Prof. Mohan Matraiye. For the year 2012, this award was conferred upon Madan Sahani, Acharya Baldev Raj ‘Shaant’, Dharampal, Dr. Krishan Kumar Rattu, Surender Bansal and Tajender Sharma. On this occasion Mr. Hooda and Mr. Pahadia also released a souvenir-2013 of Haryana Sahitya Academi, Booklet of Haryana Granth Academi namely ‘Katha Samay’ and the book ‘ Before he was God-Ramayna’ written by former Chief Secretary Mr. R.S Varma. Director, Haryana Sahitya Academi Dr. Shyam Sakha Shyam, recipient of Padama Shri Mr. Surender Sharma, who is Deputy Chairman of the Akademi and former Chief Secretary Mr. R.S Verma also spoke on the occasion. MLA Mr. Anand Kaushik, Political Advisor to Chief Minister Prof. Virender Singh, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Dr. K.K Khandelwal several other senior officers of the State Government and prominent personalities were also present on the occasion.
