From Savarkar to Vajpayee: Delhi Hindi Academy Unveils New Identity for Literary Awards

In a significant cultural and literary reshaping, the Delhi government's Hindi Academy has renamed several of its prestigious literary honours after prominent nationalist leaders, freedom fighters and public figures, while also introducing new award categories aimed at promoting India’s cultural and intellectual traditions.

The move marks one of the biggest restructurings of the academy’s recognition framework in recent years and comes as applications open for awards covering four academic cycles- 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26 .

Among the notable changes, the academy’s highest recognition, the Hindi Academy Shalaka Samman , has been rechristened as the Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Shalaka Samman . The award amount has also been increased from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7 lakh , making it one of the most significant literary recognitions under the institution.

A new award category, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Bhartiya Sanskriti and Gyan Parampara Samman , has also been introduced to recognise contributions towards the promotion of Indian culture and knowledge traditions . The honour carries a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh .

The academy has additionally launched the Dr Vijay Kumar Malhotra Hindi Sevi Samman , named after the late BJP veteran, to honour individuals dedicated to the service and promotion of the Hindi language.

Several other recognitions have also been renamed and reorganised. These include Veer Savarkar Samman for national consciousness, Rani Ahilyabai Holkar Samman for women litterateurs and Sant Ravidas Sahitya Samman , each carrying a prize amount of Rs 2 lakh .

The award for women writers was earlier named after Santosh Koli , an anti corruption activist whose memory had been honoured by the previous AAP government.

Additional honours include the Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya Hindi Sahityakar Samman , Baba Jorawar Singh Samman for children’s literature and Swami Vivekananda Yuva Pratibha Samman , each carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh .

Awards for journalism, translation, folk writing and multidisciplinary literary contributions will continue under various categories including Vidya Niwas Mishra Samman, Nirmal Verma Samman, Ramchandra Shukla Hindi Utkarsh Samman, Vasudev Sharan Agrawal Samman, Devendra Swaroop Samman, Mridula Sinha Samman and Narendra Kohli Samman.

According to officials, eligible litterateurs, poets and journalists from the National Capital Region (NCR)-Delhi can submit applications until June 23 , with detailed guidelines available on the academy’s official platform.