Urdu Council to introduce awards for creative writers: Ramesh Pokhriyal

In a bid to encourage Urdu creative writers, the National Urdu Language Development Council would introduce awards and honours from next year. The awards would be named after great Urdu personalities like Amir Khusro, Mirza Ghalib and others whose literary works have inspired millions.

New Delhi: Addressing the National Urdu Language Development Council at a two-day international Urdu webinar, Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said that the Council would constitute awards and honours to encourage Urdu writers for literary and creative awards from next year. The awards would be named after Urdu legends and dignitaries like Amir Khusro(for lifetime achievement), Mirza Ghalib, Dayashankar Naseem and others.

The two-day international Urdu webinar on 'Responsibilities of Urdu writers in the era of social media' witnessed the participation of various nations and precautions were put in place in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.

During the last five years, Urdu Council had reported a budget of Rs 402.56 cr against Rs 193.83 cr between 2008 to 2014. Apart from this, the number of student participation has also gone up in the Council from 1,06,615 to 1,62,9000 in the last five years.

Nishank added, "The budget of the Council has more than doubled during the regime of Narendra Modi government. Nishank said that scope of the schemes of the Council has widened and 1.6 million students have been selected at training centres, exceeding our expectations.

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Stating that the language conveys the message of peace, prosperity and unity, the minister highlighted that Urdu has been placed among 22 Indian languages in the National Education Policy. The language has extraordinary beauty which has reached millions of Indians and its fragrance is rooted in the nation.

Highlighting the achievements of Urdu, he insisted that students from abroad should also learn the language to promote Indian culture. He also said that Urdu writers and creators should make the best use of social media to promote the Urdu language.

"In the era of social media and advanced technology, writers should realise their responsibility and must use literary forums to promote Urdu language and literature," the saffron leader said, adding that people should come up with ideas for language promotion.

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