‘Baki Safa 5 Par, a Punjabi-language novel, nominated for the ‘Bank of Baroda Rashtrabhasha Samman’ Awards
Bank of Baroda (Bank), one of India’s leading public sector banks, announced the list of 12 nominations for the first edition of the “Bank of Baroda Rashtrabhasha Samman” Awards 2023 on 24.05.2023. The Punjabi Novel Baki Safa 5 Par is among the list of 12 novels nominated for the award. The unique award has been instituted to recognize and promote literary works in various Indian languages (included under the 8th Schedule of the Constitution) as well as to make the best Indian literature available to Hindi readers through translations, thereby broadening the interest and making the novels accessible to a larger set of readers.
The ‘Bank of Baroda Rashtrabhasha Samman’ Award will be presented to the author of the original work and the translator of the book into Hindi. The author of the original work and the respective Hindi translator of the award-winning book will receive Rs. 21.00 lakh and Rs. 15.00 lakh respectively. Moreover, the authors and the Hindi translators of the next five shortlisted books will receive Rs. 3.00 lakh and Rs. 2.00 lakh each respectively.
At the event organised in Chandigarh today, the original author Mr. Roop Singh and the translator Mr. Subhash Neerav participated in a panel discussion with Sh Ajay K Khurana, Executive Director, Bank of Baroda. The writer conversed on the Indian literature landscape and the significance of the Rashtrabhasha Samman award for the literary fraternity across India.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Ajay K Khurana, Bank of Baroda said “Bank of Baroda Rashtrabhasha Samman” is the biggest honor of this kind instituted by any institution in India with a view to promote contributions in the literary field. Under this award, a total of Rs 61 lakh will be given to the best novels written in Indian languages and their Hindi translators. The award is dedicated to all the languages included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, underlining the bank’s committed vision towards the linguistic development of the country.”
Mr. Roop Singh’s ‘Baki Safa 5 Par’ novel depicts the helplessness of the youth and their families in the Punjab countryside engulfed in the flames of separatist terrorism. On the one hand, they have to face police torture and encounters, on the other, the terrorists terrify and attract them at the same time. The attachment to the family does not allow them to run away and eventually become victims of a tragedy.
The five-member awards jury is chaired by renowned author and Booker Prize winner Ms. Geetanjali Shree. The other four jury members are Mr. Arun Kamal, an Indian poet; Mr. Pushpesh Pant, an academic and historian; Ms. Anamika, a contemporary Indian poet and novelist; and Mr. Prabhat Ranjan, a Hindi fiction writer and translator.
The Bank had initiated the process of inviting nominations during the period March-April 2023 and received several entries written in different Indian languages, from which the jury prepared a list of 12 books.
The winner of the ‘Bank of Baroda Rashtrabhasha Samman’ Award will be announced in mid-June, 2023 in Delhi.
