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K.K. Birla Foundation awards presented

JAIPUR: Rajasthan Governor Shailendra Kumar Singh on Thursday said the country had not kept the promises it made to the downtrodden at the time of Independence. The plight of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes remained the same all these years while those at the helm of affairs continued to pay lip service to these deprived groups, he said.

The Governor was speaking after giving away the K. K. Birla Foundation’s Bihari and Vachaspati awards for 2007 here.

“The reservations we provide are only an excuse not to treat Dalits on an equal basis,” Mr. Singh said. At the time of Independence the Dalits were promised equal treatment in every sphere of life. However, after all these decades the issues of temple entry, sharing a common water source and equal treatment to Dalit children in schools still remained. “The SC/STs remain where they were in the past and reservations have not helped,” he noted. “If you sincerely want to bring reforms, boycott the caste system,” Mr. Singh told the audience which comprised writers, academicians and intellectuals.

The Bihari award, which carries a cash component of Rs.1 lakh, was given to Yashwant Vyas for his satirical novel in Hindi on communal violence, “Comrade Godse”. The Madhya Pradesh-born Mr. Vyas is presently the Editor of “Aah Jindagi”, a magazine published by the Dainik Bhaskar Group. The Bihari award, instituted in 1991, the year in which the K. K. Birla Foundation was established, is given to an outstanding literary work published in Rajasthan.

The Vachaspati award, given to an exceptional work in Sanskrit language at national level, was conferred on Swami Rambhadracharya for his epic poem, “Shribhargavaraghaviyyam,” which has Lord Ram and Parasram as lead characters. This award also carries a cash prize of Rs.1 lakh.

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