Bhubaneswar: The Bank of Baroda, a public sector bank, announced Monday the list of 12 nominations for the first edition of the Bank of Baroda Rashtrabhasha Samman Awards 2023.
Eminent author Paramita Satpathy’s Odia novel Abhipreta Kala, translated to Hindi by Ajoy Kumar Patnaik, is among the list drawn up for the honour. The award aims to recognise and promote literary works in various Indian languages and make the best Indian literature available to Hindi readers through translations.
The award will be presented to both the original author and the translator of the book. The two will receive Rs. 21.00 lakh and Rs. 15.00 lakh, respectively. The authors and the Hindi translators of the next five shortlisted books will also receive Rs. 3.00 lakh and Rs. 2.00 lakh each respectively.
Abhipreta Kala tells the story of the contributions of those known and unknown people who empowered India’s freedom struggle in their own way.
Speaking on the occasion, Debadatta Chand, Executive Director, Bank of Baroda said, “This award will provide a major boost to Indian language literature and seeks to give national recognition to regional language novels. The Award underlines the importance of India’s cultural and literary diversity and will further enrich the languages of our country.”
The five-member awards jury is chaired by renowned author and Booker Prize winner Geetanjali Shree. The other members are poet Arun Kamal, academician Pushpesh Pant, poet and novelist Anamika, and Hindi fiction writer and translator Prabhat Ranjan.
The name of the winner will be announced June 11, 2023, in Delhi.