Manoj Panda to get Sarala Award

Odisha Channel Bureau Bhubaneswar, Aug 20: Manoj Kumar Panda, noted writer in Odia will get the 36th edition of prestigious Sarala Award for his story book collection `Maya Bagicha’ and overall literary achievements.The Sarala Award Committee announced this in a meeting held here yesterday evening.Panda will receive a cash award of Rs.5,00,000 along with a citation.Panda has three short story collections in Odia – ‘ Hada Bagicha’, ‘Varna Bagicha’ n ‘Maya Bagicha’.Two more notable personalities of Odisha will also be honoured for their valuable contribution in the field of music and art.Bhimsen Satpathy will be awarded with Ila Panda Memorial Music Samman and D.Narayan Rao will be awarded with Ila Panda Memorial Art Samman.They will receive a cash award of Rs.1,50,000 each along with citations.A special function will be held on October 26 to felicitate Sri Panda along with other awardees.Mridula Garg, an eminent writer of India has consented to be the Chief Guest of this year’s Sarala Award function.The annual Sarala Award was instituted in the year 1979 by Indian Metals Public Charitable Trust (IMPaCT).IMPaCT is the charitable wing of IMFA Group, the leading and the only fully integrated producer of ferro alloys in India.Sarala Award is recognised as the foremost literary award of Odisha.This award is one of the finest contributions of IMPaCT to glorify Odia literature.The Ekalabya Award also instituted by IMPaCT crowns promising sports talents of Odisha.