A famous Hindi poet and writer from Chhattisgarh, Vinod Kumar Shukla, has been selected for the Jnanpith award. This award is considered the country’s highest literary honour. This was announced in New Delhi today. Mr Shukla lives in Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh. He was born on January 1, 1947, in Rajnandgaon.

He has been involved in literary writing for about fifty years. His first collection of poems, “Lagbhag Jai Hind”, was published in the year 1971. His novels, “Naukar ki Kameez”, “Khilega to dekhenge” and “Deewar mein ek khidki”, are considered to be the best Hindi novels. Along with this, his collections of stories, “Peed par Kamra” and “Mahavidyalaya”, and his poems, “Woh aadmi chala gaya, naya garam court pehen kar”, “Aakash dharti ko khatakta hai” and “Kavita se lambi kavita”, have become very popular. Mr Shukla has also written books for children. His books have been translated into many languages. Vinod Kumar Shukla has earlier received many awards for his writings. These include the Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh Fellowship, the Raza Award and the Sahitya Akademi Award.

On receiving the Jnanpith Award, Vinod Kumar Shukla said that this is a big award, and this award also makes him realise his responsibility.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnudev Sai has congratulated Vinod Kumar Shukla on the announcement of the Jnanpith Award. He has said that this is a matter of pride for Chhattisgarh. He said Mr Shukla has once again given Chhattisgarh an opportunity to be proud on the literary platform of the country.