The Rashtra Bhasha Puraskar, a Rs 36 lakh award for the best translated work, may have been discontinued just a year after it was instituted by the Bank of Baroda. Although there is no formal announcement, litterateurs and others believe this may be the case due to a lack of transparency and the formation of a new jury for the second edition. The first and only award went to Urdu writer Mohsin Khan and translator Saeed Ahmed for their novel “Allah Mian Ka Karkhana”. The award was mired in controversy, and it received a large number of RTI applications. Author and translator Prabhat Ranjan, who was part of the 2023 jury, believes this controversy may be a reason for the award’s possible discontinuation. The Bank of Baroda official handling the award refused to comment on its discontinuation, citing ongoing discussions within the management. The award, worth Rs 36 lakh, had been established to recognize and encourage original literature of Indian languages and their Hindi translations.
The Bank of Baroda’s ₹36 lakh Rashtra Bhasha Puraskar award for the best translated work remains shrouded in ambiguity.
by newsworm | Dec 10, 2024 | Bank of Baroda, Banking