Chandigarh, February 24- Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal said that litterateurs of all languages are equal, so the prize money given to them by the government should also be same. A uniform formula should be formulated regarding the prize money for the literary academies of Haryana. Till now, the prize money given by the four literary academies of Haryana in the field of literature varies. The Chief Minister was speaking on the occasion of ‘Haryana Sahitya Parv’ at Tagore Theatre on Thursday. The Chief Minister launched the website and mobile application of Haryana Sanskrit Academy and Punjabi Sahitya Akademi.
On this occasion, Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal honoured 138 litterateurs of Sanskrit, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu languages. This award was given through Haryana Sanskrit Academy, Haryana Granth Academy, Haryana Punjabi Sahitya Akademi, Haryana Urdu Academy. The Chief Minister is the president of all the 4 Academies. He said that Haryana has been the land of litterateurs, where litterateurs like Babu Balmukand Gupt, Hali Panipati, Dada Lakhmichand and Baba Farid were born. There is a need to develop the birthplace of such eminent writers from literary viewpoint. In this episode, a government e-library will be built at the mansion of Babu Balmukand Gupt in Gudani, Rewari. This will give an opportunity to the youth to read substantial literature.
Being a writer is an honour in itself
Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal said that being a litterateur is an honour in itself. The Sahitya Samman given by Haryana Government could not be given due to Covid-19 pandemic. Thus, we are giving these honours by celebrating Sahitya Parv this year.
Writers, journalists and poets have played an important role in Indian Independence movement
Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal said that many people of different sections played an important role in the independence of the country, but litterateurs, poets, writers, writers and journalists made an important contribution in spreading awareness in the society in this regard. This gave impetus to the patriotic movement and brought a sense of patriotism and public awareness.
Ensure youths’ inclination towards literature
The Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal said that in today's era of internet, interest of youth towards literature is declining, thus, there is an immense need to again connect them with their roots. People’s inclination towards literature is being developed by going from village to village through Sahitya Academies. All the literary academies are playing an important role so that the contribution in the field of literature doesn’t decline.
Need to promote literature
The Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal said that the Haryana government is promoting literature. Grants are being given by the Academies for the publication of books. Apart from this, good compositions are also included in the courses. Calling upon the writers, he said that literature should be propagated in a way so that the new generation develops interest in it. He added that the litterateurs should create public awareness in the society in this regard.
On this occasion, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Dr. Amit Agrawal said that all the academies in the state are doing excellent work. He said that the Chief Minister has immense love for litterateurs. The Chief Minister congratulated, Dr. Amit Agrawal and Vice-Chairman of Haryana Urdu Academy, Dr. Chandra Trikha for the successful organization of Haryana Sahitya Parv. On this occasion, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. V. Umashankar, Vice President of Haryana Sanskrit Academy, Dr. Dinesh Shastri, Vice President of Haryana Granth Akademi, Dr. Virendra Chauhan, Vice President of Haryana Punjabi Sahitya Akademi, Sh. Gurvinder Singh Dhamija and all litterateurs from across the state along with their families and other senior officers were present.
Those who were honoured
Aajeevan Sahitya Sadhna Samman – 2017 was given to Dr. Kamal Kashor Goenka and Dr. Suresh Gautam for the year 2018, Sh. Madhav Kaushik for the year 2019 and Sh. Gyanprakash Vivek for the year 2020. Fakhre Haryana Samman for the year 2019 to Dr. Himmat Singh Sinha Nazim and for the year 2020 to Dr. Kumar Panipati. They were given an amount of Rs 5 lakh each and a citation. Similarly, for the year 2017, Mahakavi Soordas Ajeevan Sahitya Samman to Dr. Puran Chand Sharma and for 2018 to Sh. Madhukant and Dr. Santram Deshwal, for the year 2019 it was given to Dr. Sudarshan Ratnakar and Smt. Chandrakanta, for the year 2020 it was given to Dr. Subhash Rastogi. An amount of Rs 5 lakh each along with a citation was also given. In total 138 litterateurs were honoured in different categories.