Sanskriti Awards for five announced

New Delhi, Nov 7: Mitul Dutta, a major voice in contemporary Bengali literature, freelance journalist Sachin Kumar Jain, theatre personality Ramanjit Kaur, painter A Balasubramaniam and social worker Farhad Contractor have been selected for this year's prestigious Sanskriti Awards.

Eminent actor-playwright Girish Karnad will present the awards at a function here on November 21.

A distinctive feature of the awards is these are presented to young and emerging talents in the 25-35 age group in the fields of literature, journalism, performing arts and social and cultural achievement.

Each award carries Rs 25,000 in cash and a citation.

The awards were announced here today by Sankriti Pratisthan Awards Committee Chairman Ashok Vajpeyi.

''Over the years, the Sanskriti awards, now in their 27th year, have become one of the most coveted recognitions in the country,'' Mr Vajpeyi said.

Mitul Dutta, whose autobiographical novel 'Pargachha' won rave reviews and was serialised in a magazine, edits a poetry magazine 'Kobiyaal', providing a platform for young poets.

''Shuffling between lyrical prose and poetry, the thoughts in Mitul's poems float rhythmically often to a crescendo...and bring faith and frivolity, morality and morbidity side by side,'' Sanskriti Pratisthan said in a statement.

Sachin Kumar Jain, a Bhopal-based freelance journalist, writes on issues relating to the poor and marginalised communities. ''His writings on poverty are not just a catalogue reduced to faeless statistics but portray the world of the poor and their suffering,'' it said.

Three of his Hindi books -- ''Bhookmari Ka Strilling'', ''Bachpan Ki Bhookmari'' and ''Maa Banane Ka Avishap'' -- chronicle accounts of the lives of the people damned by poverty and its vicious cycle.

Balasubramaniam, who hails from small town of Nellai, Tamil Nadu, has participated in various solo and group exhibitions in India and abroad, mostv recently this year in the Singapore Biennale. In 1997, he was awarded the Charles Wallace India Trust Awards.

Ramanjit Kaur has essayed a wide range of roles with great sensitivity and muturity. ''Whether she is dealing with a tragic character or comic, poetry or prose, she brings in a rare energy and passion, which is quite rare in the urban actor today,'' it said.

Ramanjit established 'The Creative Arts' in Kolkata in 2002 to create awareness and impart formal, systematic training in various fine arts, espacially theatre.

Farhad Contractor left his career as a college professor to engage in active social work. ''His noatble achievement has been the challenging task of working in Barmer, a deprived desert region of Rajasthan,'' said the Sanskriti Pratisthan statement.

UNI