Dogri Sanstha Jammu organized a Sammaan-Samaaroh in connection with the celebration of its Platinum Jubilee Year to honour the Sahitya Akademi Awardees of Dogri language and the officers who have qualified the KAS examination with Dogri as one subject. Sh. K.K. Sharma, Advisor to Hon’ble Lt. Governor of J&K, was the Chief Guest in the function which was held at Shri Ranbir Model Higher Secondary School, the prestigious and highly reputed educational institute of J&K.
The program, in which 10 Sahitya Akademi Awardees of last 6 years and two of the KAS officers were felicitated, was attended by a galaxy of Dogri writers, the staff and students of the SRML Higher Secondary School. The function was held in the majestic heritage Sangeet Hall of the School. Those felicitated for the main Sahitya Akademi Award for the years 2014-2018 include Shailendra Singh, Dhyan Singh, Chhatrapal, Shiv Mehta and Inderjeet Kesar. On the other hand, Veena Gupta, Yash Pal Nirmal, Chhatrapal, Krishan Sharma, Yash Raina and Narsingh Dev Jamwal were felicitated for the Sahitya Akademi Translation Award for the years 2013-2018. Siddharth Dubey and Sahil Randhawa were honoured for qualifying KAS examination with Dogri as one subject. A Bhaakh and a Dogri song were also presented by Nirmal Kumar and Rahul Lakhnotra, the young students of the School. Their soulful presentation indicated the promising talent of these young performers.
K.K. Sharma, who also planted a sapling of Chinar tree in the school premises, while speaking on the occasion appreciated the efforts of Dogri Sanstha Jammu in felicitating the awardees and the KAS officers, in particular and for promoting Dogri literature and language in general. He said that honouring of these achievers will inspire the young students to love their mother tongue and instill interest in literature in their young mind. Sharma commended the Principal and the staff of the school for encouraging the literary activities in the school and exposing the students to local literature and culture. He said that the School has a glorious past and distinguished history. It is the consistent excellent record of the School which has earned it the title of Model School. Sharma spoke at length about the importance of mother tongue, especially in education. He also commented that Dogri language has a lyrical quality in it, which not only makes it pleasant to listen to but also creates an effect like meditational music.
Prof. Lalit Magotra, President of Dogri Sanstha in his welcome address explained that the venue for this particular program was selected to be this School, only with the express purpose of attracting the younger generation to their own literature and language. He briefly traced the history of Dogri Sanstha for the benefit of the audience to emphasize the phenomenal growth of the Dogri language and its achievements. He also shed light on the distinguished past of the school and his close association with it. He said that a large number of army generals, Bureaucrats, leading politicians and statesmen have been alumni of this great institution.
Vijay Sharma, Principal of the School presented vote of thanks at the conclusion of the program. In addition to shedding some light on the standing of the School he also highlighted the recent major achievements of the School, especially after having been conferred the status of Model institution resulting into a generous flow of funds for creating modern infrastructure and facilities.
The program was conducted by Prof. Shashi Pathania, vice president of Dogri Sanstha and Former Head of Dogri Department of Jammu University. In addition to her well -informed comments during the conduct of the programme, she also gave a brief introduction of the Awardees, who were honoured on this occasion.
The program was concluded with the National Anthem.
