Indo-Norwegian Cultural Forum confers Premchand Award on GNDU professor

Prof Sunil Kumar, Chairman, Hindi Department and Dean, Language Faculty, Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), Amritsar, has been conferred the International Premchand Award-2025 by the Indo-Norwegian Information and Cultural Forum, Norway, for his outstanding contribution to literature.

Prof Sunil Kumar is an eminent name in Hindi literature and has been continuously doing commendable work in the field of teaching, research and writing.

He is also the provincial president of All India Sahitya Parishad, Punjab, and is working to establish cultural and social values among the general public through various literary activities.

Scholars from India and abroad congratulated Prof Sunil Kumar on being conferred this prestigious award.

Expressing gratitude to the Indo-Norwegian Cultural Forum for the award, Prof Sunil Kumar said, “My aim is to create literature for the welfare of the society, to define the culture of the country by deeply assimilating it so that the unity, integrity and pride of the country can be ensured while preserving the civilisation and culture of India.”

He received the award in the presence of Nobel Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi, who in his speech, called upon everyone to take the lead in solving the problems of the country and the world like the king of stories, Munshi Premchand.

Pro vice-chancellor of Punjab Central University, Bathinda, Dr Kiran Hazarika, on behalf of the honoured writers, thanked the Indo-Norwegian Cultural Forum, Spiel Darpan and Dr Suresh Chandra Shukla.

As the keynote speaker, Prof Shailendra Kumar Sharma delivered an important address. The personalities, who were honoured in different categories included poet and lyricist Santosh Anand, Dr Mohan Bairagi and Prof Jagdish Chandra Sharma from Ujjain, Dr Sanjeev Kumar, Manoj Bhavuk and others.