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The Delhi government’s Hindi Academy has introduced two new literary award categories named after freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, while also renaming several existing honours as part of a restructuring of its awards programme.
Under the ‘Veer Savarkar Samman,’ it will recognise contributions towards national consciousness, while the ‘Atal Bihari Vajpayee Bharatiya Sanskriti tatha Gyan Parampara Samman’ has been created to honour efforts in promoting Indian culture and knowledge traditions. They carry a cash reward of ₹2 and ₹5 lakh, respectively.
The academy has also renamed its Hindi Sevi Samman after veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra, who passed away in September last year. It honours individuals for their contribution to the promotion and service of the Hindi language and carries a cash award of ₹1 lakh.
Among other changes, the Hindi Academy Shalaka Samman has been renamed as the Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Shalaka Samman. The cash prize has been increased from ₹5 lakh to ₹7 lakh. The award for women littérateurs, earlier named after anti-corruption activist Santosh Koli, has been renamed the Rani Ahilyabai Holkar Samman. It carries a prize of ₹2 lakh.
The award in Koli’s memory was announced by the previous AAP government after the AAP leader passed away in road accident in 2013.
The academy has invited applications under its Sahityakar Samman Yojana for the academic years 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26. Eligible littérateurs, poets and journalists from the National Capital Region can submit their entries by June 23.
In all, 16 award categories will be conferred on Hindi writers, poets and journalists for their contribution to literature and the promotion of the language. Other honours include the Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya Hindi Sahityakar Samman, Baba Jorawar Singh Samman for children’s literature, Swami Vivekananda Yuva Pratibha Samman, Vidya Niwas Mishra Samman for Hindi journalism, Nirmal Verma Samman for translation, Ramchandra Shukla Hindi Utkarsh Samman, Vasudev Sharan Agrawal Samman for folk writings, Devendra Swaroop Samman for writings in social sciences and related subjects, Mridula Sinha Samman for women littérateurs, and Narendra Kohli Samman for literary works across genres.
Saloni Bhatia is a journalist with over 15 years of experience in reporting and storytelling, with a strong focus on the Delhi government and political developments in the Capital. Over the years, she has closely tracked policy decisions, governance issues, and political shifts. She started off as an entertainment journalist but then moved to covering beats like crime and education. Her experience on the crime beat helped her develop an eye for detail and accuracy, while education reporting allowed her to explore policy impact on students, teachers and institutions. Outside the newsroom, she enjoys reading both fiction and non-fiction. She also has a keen interest in watching Bollywood films.
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