As many as 22 eminent personalities from various fields would be conferred with Uttar Pradesh’s most prestigious Yash Bharati award.
Official sources said here on Sunday that state government has already short listed names of 22 people for the award this year. This award carries a cash reward of Rs 11 lakh besides it also carries a lucrative pension of Rs 50,000 per month.
Prominent among the awardees are Shayar Anwar Jalalpur, Historial Irfan Habib, mountaineer Arunima Sinha, Ghazal singer Iqbal Siddique, Poet Ashok Chakradhar, Bollywood personalities Vishal Bharadwaj and Nasiruddin Shah besides eminent cardiologist Naresh Trehan, a singer Surbi Ranjan, who is the wife of state chief secretary Alok Ranjan.
‘’This list of awardees will also include two or three names of the sports personality. The names will beselceted by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav,” official said.
Altogether 503 names were submitted for consideration for the Yash Bharati awards this year of which, 138 names were recommended by the state culture department. later, the list was sent to the government for approval. Till date, the government has approved 22 names while three other names are under consideration, the official said.
Yash Bharati award includes prize money of Rs 11 lakh, a memento and a shawl to the selected candidates besides they can also avail Rs 50,000 per month pension. The award is given to eminent persons belonging to the state in the fields of art, culture, sports, literature, medicine, journalism and social service.
Several personalities, including cricketer Suresh Raina, Congress leader Raj Babbar and his wife Nadira, classical vocalist Girija Devi and Chhannulal Mishra, who were honoured with the Yash Bharti award by the state government, have applied for the administration’s offer of a monthly pension of Rs 50,000.
Of the total 141 people getting the awards so far, at least 100 people have applied for the pension so far. Bollywood’s biggest star Amitabh Bachchan, his wife Jaya and son Abhishek, who have also received the Yash Bharti award, had declined the pension offer by the UP government.