Kalam to present Kabir Puraskar, Communal Harmony awards

New Delhi, May 22 (UNI) President A P J Abdul Kalam will present Kabir Puraskar and Communal Harmony Awards for 2006 at a function to be held at the G M C Balayogi auditorium in Parliament complex tomorrow.

The annual Kabir Puraskar, instituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 1990 to promote communal harmony, will be received by 34-year-old Ram Babu Singh Chauhan from village Tamnagarhi in Uttar Pradesh in recognition of his efforts to spread the messages of national integration, communal tolerance and protection of human rights.

Since he was selected under Grade-III of Kabir Puraskar, he will receive a cash prize of Rs 50,000 and a citation.

Dr Kalam will present the annual Communal Harmony award in the individual category to Mr Rabindra Nath Upadhyay, an octogenarian social worker and Gandhian from Asom. He is a recipient of Padma Shri award in 2000, Jamnalal Bajaj Award for constructive work in 2003 and Friends of North-East Award in 2004.

He receives a cash prize of Rs two lakhs and citation.

The Delhi-based Institute for Socialist Education will receive the Communal Harmony Award in the organisation category. The Institute, headed by former MP Shashi Bhushan, would receive a cash prize of Rs five lakh and a citation.

From 2007 onwards, a Communal Harmony award in the category of students union with a cash prize of Rs three lakh would be presented.

UNI