Odisha’s Eminent Writer Sarojini Sahoo Selected For Sarala Award For 2024

Bhubaneswar: Well-known feminist writer Sarojini Sahoo of Odisha has been selected for the ‘Sarala Puraskar’ for 2024 for her novel ‘Asthira Pada’.

The Sarala award, given annually by the IMFA Charitable Trust (IMPaCT) for the best literary achievement, will be presented to Sarojini at a function on October 26. The award includes a plaque and Rs five lakh. Her novel ‘Asthira Pada’ was published by Srujan India in 2019.

Along with Sarojini’s novel, the other books that made it to the final round of judging were Aparna Mohanty’s ‘Agni Kamalini’, Ashutosh Parida’s ‘Aprastuta Mrutyu’, Dash Benhur’s ‘Abadharita O Anyanya Galpa’, Bijay Kumar Satpathi’s ‘Kankana Dasi Katha’, Biyot Projna Tripathy’s ‘Maya’ and Padmaj Paul’s ‘Sita Mun Sita’.

Dr Biranchi Kumar Sahoo, Dr Pragyan Prabartika Dash, Madhusudan Dash, Dr Jnanee Debasish Mishra, Ratnamala Swain were preliminary judges for selection of books, while the jury for the final round were Dr Bhagaban Jayasingh, Prof Kalidas Mishra, Dr Gourahari Das, Sadananda Tripathy, Baijayanti Mishra, Sanjukta Mohanty and Tapas Kumar Samantaray.

Besides the Sarala award, IMPaCT also announced the ‘Ila-Bansidhar Panda Kala Samman’, given for lifetime excellence in the field of art, for 2024 for sculpture artist Sudarshan Sahoo and famous singer Tansen Singh. As part of the award, both of them will be given a certificate and a plaque with Rs two lakh each.

The Sarala Puraskar, instituted by eminent Odia industrialist Bansidhar Panda and his wife Ila Panda in 1980, has been continuously awarded by the Indian Metals Public Charitable Trust (IMPaCT).