Govind Mishra awarded Saraswati Samman 2013

On 23 September 2014, Govind Mishra renowned Hindi author was given the Saraswati Samman in New Delhi.

He was given this Samman by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh for his novel Dhool Paudhon Par.

Govind Mishra is the second Hindi author to be conferred with this honour after Harivansh Rai Bachchan in 1991 for his autobiography in four volumes in Hindi.

Dhool Paudhon Par 

Dhool Paudhon Par was published in 2008.

The novel illustrates the struggle of modern Indian women and carries an artistic blend of reality and romance.

This novel portrays realistic plight of Indian women in modern times.

Who is  Govind Mishra?

Mishra was born on 1 August 1939 in Atarra of Banda, Uttar Pradesh. He completed his BA and MA (English) at the University of Allahabad

In 1962, he was selected for the Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) where he attained the post of Chairman, Central Board of direct taxes and retired from his office in 1997.

Post retirement, he dedicated himself solely for the literary pursuits in Bhopal .

Published works of Mishra includes

• 11 novels.

• 14 short stories collections that contain 100 stories.

• Five travelogues.

• Five collections of literary essays.

• One poem collection.

• 2 story books for children.

His first novel was Wo Apna Chehra and was published in 1969 and the much talked novel was Lal 

Peeli Zameen published in 1976.

Govind Mishra is a recipient of several awards that includes

• Vyas Samman (1998)

• Sahitya Akademi Award (2008)

• Bharat-Bharti Samman (2011)

What is Saraswati Samman?

Saraswati Samman is an annual award that is given in recognition of outstanding prose or poetry literary works in Indian languages that are listed in Schedule VIII of the constitution of India.

This Samman is given for the literary works of last 10 years.

The award was established in 1991 by K. K. Birla Foundation and carries a prize amount of 10 lakh rupees along with a certificate.

The KK Birla Foundation has instituted three awards in the field of literature.

These are Saraswati Samman, Vyas Samman (for Hindi) and Bihari Puraskar (for Hindi and Rajasthani writers of Rajasthan).

On 2 August 2013 the Saraswati Samman 2012 was given to Sugathakumari, the Malayalam poetess for Manalezhuthu (the Writings on the Sand), a collection of poems in Malayalam.