The Sangeet Natak Akademi Amrit Awards were conferred by the Vice-President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar in a special ceremony on Saturday at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. As part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the one-time Sangeet Natak Akademi Amrit Awards were presented to 84 artists from the field of performing arts of India who are above the age of 75 years and have not been accorded any national honour in their career so far, the Ministry of Culture said.
Speaking on the occasion, the Vice President emphasized the need to promote India’s glorious cultural heritage spanning over 5000 years. He called upon the media to recognize our cultural heritage and expressed the need to protect, support and nurture our artists in a structured manner. He also expressed his happiness in honoring the individuals whose contributions uphold the cultural heritage and pride of the nation.
Dhankhar described the veteran artists as the architects and real protectors of our cultural heritage and stated that their invaluable contributions should have been recognized long ago.
Minister of Law and Justice (Independent Charge) and Minister of State for Culture and Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal and Minister of State for Culture and External Affairs Meenakashi Lekhi and Chairman of Sangeet Natak Akademi Dr Sandhya Purecha were present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion Union Minister Meghwal said that it was a matter of great pride to honour the great people who have been working tirelessly in the field of music, dance and theatre. He further stated that these artists are the real heroes of our cultural heritage.
MoS Meenakashi Lekhi said that India is a country which has unity in diversity and various dance, music and theatre forms have existed for centuries back. Our elder artists are torchbearers of our age-old civilization which is full of cultural values, she said.
Sangeet Natak Akademi Amrit Awards is a national honour bestowed on performing artists as well as teachers and scholars in the field of performing arts. The recipients are selected by the Akademi’s General Council, consisting of distinguished musicians, dancers, theatre artists and scholars in these disciplines and nominees of the Government of India, States Governments, and Union Territories. The honour carries a purse money of Rs. 1,00,000 besides a Tamrapatra and Angavastram.
Fourteen distinguished artists from all Northeastern States except Mizoram and Nagaland received recognition on Saturday.
