New Delhi, March. 23 (PTI): Aimed at encouraging young talent in the field of performing arts, the Sangeet Natak Akademi today gave away the first 'Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar' to 32 artistes from diverse fields, including those who have already made their mark like musician Abhay Rustum Sopori.

The award, specially instituted to support and sustain the work of the new generation in the multiple streams of regional art traditions, was given only to artistes below the age of 35.

Besides Sopori, those who bagged the honour in the field of music are Manjari A Kelkar, Niladri Kumar, T M Krishna, Malladi Brothers Srirama Prasad and Ravikumar, N Manoj Siva and S Karthick.

Kalamandalam Pradeep, Kalamandalam Vinod, Sheejith Krishna, Prashant Shah, Sijagurumayum Nimita Devi, Bijayani Satapathi, Leena Mohanty and Vedantam Venkata Nagachalapathi Rao were selected for the award in the field of music.

While Anurupa Roy bagged the prize in the field of puppetry, Rampada Jamatia was given the award in tribal dance and music.

"We have generally noticed that by the time an artiste gets an Akademi award, he or she is quite past their prime. So in order to encourage young talent and help sustain their careers we have instituted this prize just for the youth," Akademi Chairman Ramnivas Mirdha said after giving away the awards here.

The prize was also given to artistes in the fields of theatre, folk dance and puppetry.

The award carries a citation, plaque and a prize money of Rs 25,000.