Noted writer Vijay Verma awarded Bihari Puraskar

NEW DELHI: Noted writer from Rajasthan, Vijay Verma, will be conferred the 27th Bihari Puraskar for 2017 for his work ‘Lokavalokan’, a collection of literary essays. The prestigious award is presented by the KK Birla Foundation and was instituted in 1991. It is only for writers of Rajasthani origin and is given annually to an outstanding work in Hindi or Rajasthani published in the last 10 years. The award is named after Bihari, a famous Hindi poet, and carries a cash prize of ₹2 lakh, a citation, and a plaque.

A statement issued by the selection committee, chaired by Nand Bhardwaj, said Verma’s works reflect an excellent panoramic study and compilations of matter collected from various sources during the last 50 years.

‘In Lokavalokan, he has put forward his rationale and analysis of various significant and pertinent aspects of Rajasthani literature and culture in detail,” said the committee.

Born in 1935 in a village in eastern UP, Verma completed his early and higher education in 1957 at Prayag University, Allahabad, where he received the Chancellor’s Gold Medal for the Best Student of the Year. From 1958 to 1960, he worked as a teacher at Gorakhpur University and Sagar University and was selected for the Rajasthan cadre of IAS in 1960. Verma held various positions in government, and was also director general of Jawahar Kala Kendra in Jaipur.

While the chairman of the selection committee is appointed by the president of the foundation, Shobhana Bhartia, it also includes Arjundeo Charan, Hemant Shesh, Dr Lata Sharma, Om Thanvi, and Dr Suresh Rituparna, director of the foundation (member secretary).