Kathmandu, July 13

Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai Friday honoured 22 people from various walks of life with National and Regional Talent Awards for their contribution to the development of art, culture, languages, fine arts, music and drama.

The Prime Minister conferred the awards to various personalities amidst a programme organized by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation on the occasion of the 199th birth anniversary of Pioneer Poet Bhanu Bhakta Acharya.

Shyam Tamot, Prof. Dr Surendra KC, Krishna Prasad Parajuli and Kalu Kumale were awarded with the National Talent Awards, which carried a purse of Rs. 100,000 and a letter of appreciation each for their contribution in the development of drama and music, culture, language and art and fine arts respectively.

Likewise 18 people from different walks of life have received the Regional Talent Award, carrying a purse of Rs. 50,000 and letter of appreciation each.

Prof. Nutandhar Sharma, Min Shris Magar, Dr Narayan Prasad Sangroula and Prof. Dr Dilliraj Sharma were awarded under the culture category.

Similarly, Juddha Bahadur Rai, Kuber Gadtaula, Mahashankar Devkota and Leeladhar Baskota received awards for their longstanding contribution in drama and music category.

Hemanta Hamal, Man Bahadur Tamang Dong, Naradmani Hartamchali ‘Kalang’, Ganesh Kumar GC and Puran Khadka were awarded under the fine arts category.

Dhirendra Premarshi, Rajbhai Jakami, Lalita Doshi, Dr Deepak Gautam and Lok Bahadur Chaudhary ‘ Lucky’ received regional talent awards under the category of language and art.

Chaudhari, who is also a reporter of Gorkhapatra, sister daily of this publication, was awarded for his contribution in the field of the Tharu language and literature.

Speaking on the occasion the Prime Minister said that it was responsibility of society to be engaged in preservation and promotion of arts and culture.

He said that the government should work towards guaranteeing the social security and reputation of academicians.

"The promotion of our art and culture in the outer world will contribute in the development of tourism," he said adding the need of coordinated efforts to transform inseparable relations between tourism and culture as a means of income generation.

The Prime Minister said that he was committed to removing imposition of tax on awards for artistes saying that it was not ethical

Speaking on the occasion Minister for Culture Posta Bahadur Bogati said art, literature and culture were the mirrors of the nation.

Meanwhile, speaking at another programme organized by the Bhanu Pratisthan to commemorate the 199th birth anniversary of late poet Acharya, PM Dr. Bhattarai said that the government was committed to the promotion of the language and culture.

He said that the government and Nepali people should promote and preserve the languages and cultures of the country which he said were unique and ancient in the world.

Prime Minister Bhattarai praised the pioneer poet for contributing to the development of the Nepali language as a lingua-franca.

The prime minister urged the Nepali speakers to work for the preservation and promotion of every language spoken in the country in the context of the country adopting federalism.

Madhav Ghimire, poet of the nation, urged the government to pay a special attention to protecting the contributions of the pioneer poet to the Nepali language.

Earlier, the Prime Minister paid homage to the late poet by offering garland at his statue at the Durbar High School premise.