Sahitya Akademi Award

• The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, was formally inaugurated by the Government of India on 12 March 1954.

• The Akademi functions as an autonomous organisation. It was registered as a society on 7 January 1956, under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.

• The Sahitya Akademi is the premier literary institution of India for literary dialogue, publication and promotion in the country. It is the only institution that undertakes literary activities in 24 Indian languages, including English.

• The Sahitya Akademi gives 24 awards annually to literary works in the languages it has recognized. It also gives an equal number of awards to literary translations from and into the languages of India.

• It also gives special awards called Bhasha Samman to significant contribution to the languages.

• It also provide some other awards like Prize for Translation, Yuva Puraskar and Bal Sahitya Puraskar.

• The award comprise a plaque and a cash prize of Rs.1,00,000. The plaque awarded by the Sahitya Akademi was designed by the Indian film-maker Satyajit Ray.

• The first Awards were given in 1955.

• The constitution of the Sahitya Akademi provides that it shall be run by three authorities — a General Council, an executive board, and a finance committee.

• The Akademi has launched Centres for Translation in Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Delhi, and an Archive of Indian Literature in Delhi.

• The Head Office of the Sahitya Akademi is located in Rabindra Bhavan, near Mandi House in New Delhi.

• The Sahitya Akademi has one of the largest Library in India. It is one of the largest multi-lingual libraries in India, with a rich collection of books on literature and allied subjects.

• The Akademi publishes two bimonthly literary journals: Indian Literature in English and Samkaleen Bharatiya Sahitya in Hindi.

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