Sahitya Akademi Announces Yuva and Bal Sahitya Puraskar for 2025
Rajkishor Padhi and Subrat Kumar Senapati Named Awardees in Odia Language
Balasore, 18/06 (Krushna Kumar Mohanty): At a meeting held today in New Delhi, the Executive Board of the Sahitya Akademi announced the names of the winners of this year’s Yuva Puraskar and Bal Sahitya Puraskar.
A total of 23 young writers and 24 children’s authors have been selected for the prestigious awards. The announcement for the Dogri language is expected shortly. Each award carries a copper plaque and a cash prize of ₹50,000, to be conferred at a formal event later this year.
In Odia, the Bal Sahitya Puraskar will be awarded to Dr. Rajkishor Padhi for his children's book "Kete Phula Phutichi", while the Yuva Puraskar will go to Subrat Kumar Senapati for his short story collection "Kadambabana".
The final selection committee for the Odia Yuva Puraskar included Yashodhara Mishra, Rabi Swain, and Subhash Satapathy; while for the Bal Sahitya Puraskar, the jury consisted of Prof. Niladribhusan Harichandan, Dr. Shakuntala Baliyarsingh, and Ramachandra Nayak. Notably, Fagu Baskey, a writer from Odisha’s Bangiriposhi region, has been selected for the Yuva Puraskar in Santali.
Other recipients of the Yuva Puraskar include Suprakash Bhuyan (Assamese), Sudeshna Maitra (Bengali), Amar Khunguro Bodo (Bodo), Adwait Kottari (English), Mayur Khabadu (Gujarati), Parbati Tirkey (Hindi), R. Dilipkumar (Kannada), Saika Sahar (Kashmiri), Glyniss D’sa (Konkani), Neha Jha Mani (Maithili), Akhil P. Dharmajna (Malayalam), A.K. Jiten (Manipuri), Pradeep Kokre (Marathi), Subash Thakuri (Nepali), Mandip Olekh (Punjabi), Poonam Chand Godara (Rajasthani), Dheeraj Kumar Pandey (Sanskrit), Manthan Bachani (Sindhi), Latashmiher (Tamil), Prasad Suri (Telugu), and Neha Rubab (Urdu).
Winners of the Bal Sahitya Puraskar include Surendra Mohan Das (Assamese), Tridib Kumar Chattopadhyay (Bengali), Binay Kumar Brahma (Bodo), P.L. Parihar Shoke (Dogri), Nitin Kushalappa M.P. (English), Kirtida Brahmavat (Gujarati), Sushil Shukla (Hindi), K. Shivalingappa Handihal (Kannada), Ijahar Mubashir (Kashmiri), Nayana Adarkar (Konkani), Munni Kamat (Maithili), Sreejeet Mutedath (Malayalam), Shanto M. (Manipuri), Suresh Sawant (Marathi), Sammu Lepcha (Nepali), Pali Khodim (Punjabi), Bhogilal Patidar (Rajasthani), Preeti Pujara (Sanskrit), Harlal Murmu (Santali), Heena Agnani Heer (Sindhi), Vishnupuram Saravanan (Tamil), Gangisetti Shivkumar (Telugu), and Gajnafar Iqbal (Urdu).
The announcement has generated considerable excitement across Odisha’s literary community, with celebrations already beginning in honor of the state’s awardees.
