Honour for 17 authors by CSA

Chandigarh, March 8

Seventeen eminent authors of five languages were honoured by the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi (CSA) during a function held at the Government Art and Museum Gallery hall here today.

Grant-in-aid was given to 11 authors for their books printed during the year.

Akademi chairman Madhav Kaushik welcomed chief guest Madhusudan Anand, Director, Bharatiya Jnanpith. CSA Secretary Dr Jaspal Singh introduced the award winners highlighting their role in enriching the cultural soul of the City Beautiful.

Five prominent authors — Dr SS Bhatti (English), Dr Dheera Khandelwal (Hindi), Yog Raj Angrish (Punjabi), Ved Prakash Upadhyay (Sanskrit) and Zareen Fatima (Urdu) — were honoured with the ‘Award of Recognition 2019-20’ for their contribution to the field of literature and language. This award carried a citation and Rs 1 lakh each. The best book award, carrying Rs 25,000 cash prize each, was presented to Manju Jaidka, Anuradha Bhattacharya, Sulekha Sharma, Neena Deep, Manohar Shukla, Vijay Kapoor, Jang Bahadur Goyal, Deepak Sharma Chanarthal, Prem Gorkhi, Malkit Basra, Renu Behl and Rashmi Sharma.

The chief guest lauded the CSA for encouraging the writers to give their best.

Akademi Vice-Chairman Gulzar Sandhu proposed a vote of thanks. — TNS