BHUBANESWAR: Eminent writer Ramachandra Behera was awarded the Adibadi Jagannath Das Puraskar - the highest literary award by the Odisha Sahitya Akademi - for his lifetime contribution to Odia literature here on Wednesday.
Tourism Minister Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi felicitated Behera with the award and a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh. The author, who had received the Sahitya Akademi Award for his story ‘Gopi Chand Narang’ in 2005, said he is currently writing a long story dealing with social issues happening in his vicinity including human suffering due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In the last one year, 76-year old Behera has had three publications including a novel.
A former president of Odisha Sahitya Akademi and ex-principal of Kendrapara College, his work includes 16 short story collections, 15 novels, 20 plays for AIR and eight for stage; all in Odia language. His stories are included in syllabi of schools as well as colleges and translated into several Indian languages as well as in English.
Apart from Behera, 15 other writers - Debendra Kumar Dash, Girija Shankar Sharma, Ashok Kumar Patnaik, Babaji Charan Patnaik, Baidhar Sahu, Jivan Krushna Mohapatra, Digaraj Brahma, Rudranarayan Prusti, Soubhagini Mishra, Swarajyalaxmi Mishra, Krupasindhu Nayak, Nirmalprava Nayak, Rassheswari Mishra, Radhabinod Nayak and Maheswar Mulia - were felicitated with certificate, trophy and prize amount of Rs 1 lakh at the function.