Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation has distributed 43 awards to different personalities under various categories. The ministry organized a program at Nepal Pragya Pratisthan, Kamaladi, Kathmandu on Sunday. During the program Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Jeevan Ram Shrestha honoured the recipients with certificates and cash prizes. Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister Deuba said that language, literature, culture, music and drama were the heritage of the country’s civilization and culture and it was the national responsibility to honour the scholars. He expressed the belief that honour would inspire the creators to do more creative works in future.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister Shrestha said that the government has given priority to the promotion of language, literature and culture. Shrestha said that the ministry has honored the great personalities who have contributed to spread Nepal’s identity at home and abroad through various fields of national life including language, literature and culture. He also expressed confidence that it would further contribute to boost the country’s reputation.
The National and Provincial Talent Award, Mahakavi Devkota Award, Gopal Prasad Rimal National Award, Bhagat Sarvajit Manav Maryada National Award and History Shiromani Baburam Acharya National Award were distributed to variious personalities during the function. The National Talent Award was given in the genres of literature, music, drama, culture and fine arts. Somraj Abhay, Harivansh Acharya, Ramesh Dhungel and Hem Poudel are among the recipients of the National Talent Award. Among the recipients of the provincial talent award were Yagyeshwar Niraula, Ayodhyanath Chaudhary, Hari Prasad Silwal, Bal Krishna Adhikari, Bishnu Bahadur Singh, Bakhat Bahadur Thapa and Ganesh Raj Joshi. Benju Sharma, Ram Vinay, Puskar Raj Bhatt, Vijay Chalise and RD Prabhas Chataut were awarded the Mahakavi Devkota Award.
Amar Raj Giri was honored with Gopal Prasad Rimal National Award, Triratna Manandhar with Itihas Shiromani Baburam Acharya Award and Lal Bahadur Vishwakarma and Khagendra Sangraula with Bhagat Sarvajit Manav Maryada Award. A selection committee was formed as per the working procedure of the ministry for nominating the awardees.