Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 26: Veteran Dogri writers, Om Goswami and Dhian Singh were today conferred with the prestigious Dinu Bhai Pant Memorial Lifetime Achievement Awards for the years 2020 and 2021 respectively.
The Award, which has been instituted by the Trust formed by the family of late Pant and is given every year, carries an amount of rupees fifty one thousand each, a shawl, a medallion and a citation. The Award is presented under the aegis of Dogri Sanstha, Jammu.
This time, awards for two consecutive years were presented in the same function as the award ceremony for the year 2020 could not be held earlier due to the Covid pandemic.
In the awards presenting ceremony, Justice of J&K High Court, Sanjeev Kumar was the chief guest while a large number of prominent members of civil society, writers, artists and members of the family of Dinu Bhai Pant were also present there.
Speaking on the occasion, Sanjeev Kumar lauded both the awardees for their outstanding contribution to the literature. He said Dinu Bhai Pant has attained an iconic status due to his pioneering contribution to Dogri and awarding veteran writers in his memory is the best way of paying tribute to him. He emphasized that celebrating the memory of ancestors who have enriched social and cultural life of the community is a sign of a healthy society. He also laid stress on the importance of remaining rooted in one’s own culture and heritage.
Earlier, in his welcome address, Prof Lalit Magotra, President of Dogri Sanstha, reminded the audience of the importance of contribution of Pant to literature and also the significance of this Award. He said, had Dinu Bhai Pant not emerged on the horizon of Dogri literature in Nineteen forties, the history of Dogri literature would have been entirely different and not as impressive as it has turned out to be. Rattan Prabha Sharma, daughter of late Pant, also spoke on the occasion and narrated some of the interesting and lesser known anecdotes from personal life of Pant, which reflected on his being not only a great litterateur but also a thorough gentle and compassionate human being.
The citations of both the awardees were read by Prof Veena Gupta, Vice President of Dogri Sanstha. Proceedings of the programme were conducted by Rajeshwar Singh Raju.
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