The Government of Uttar Pradesh announced the names of 54 eminent personalities who have been selected for the award in recognition of their contributions in their respective field.
About the Award,
Uttar Pradesh’s highest honour Yash Bharti award will be given to 54 personalities. Among them, nine Muslims were conferred the award by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in presence of Mulayam Singh Yadav. The award is given annually by Culture Department of UP government.
Yash Bharti comes with a cash prize of Rs 11 lakh, citation and a shawl. The awardees are also eligible for a monthly pension of Rs 50,000 for their life.
Yash Bharti award were constituted in 1994 by the then CM Mulayam Singh Yadav but were discontinued between 2007 and 2012 by Mayawati. It has since been revived by CM Akhilesh Yadav.
About the Awardees,
- Leading cardiologist Dr Naresh Trehan, historian Irfan Habib and personalities from entertainment world like Sudhir Misra, Anurag Kashyap and Vishal Bhardwaj will be among 54 achievers to be presented Yash Bharti Award by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav at a function at Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University on Monday.
- Samajwadi Party chief and MP Mulayam Singh Yadav and culture minister Aruna Kori will also be present at the function. The CM will also give away the Ahilyabai Holkar award to lyricist Sameer Anjaan and Anjali Misra.
- Mountaineer Arunima Sinha and IPS Aparna Kumar, ghazal singer Iqbal Siddiqui, poet Ashok Chakradhar, singer Surbhi Ranjan hockey player Jagvir Singh, Kathak artist Kumkum Adarsh and young playback singer Ankit Tewari will also be presented the Yash Bharti award.
- Bhojpuri actor Dinesh Lal Nirhua and standup comedian Raju Srivastava will be awarded for their contribution towards films and entertainment along with Urdu poet Nawaz Deobandi.
- The list includes names of folk artist Kamla Srivastava, Narendra Singh Rana (power lifting), cricketer R P Singh, King George’s Medical University vice chancellor Dr Ravi Kant and Sthavi Asthana for equestrianism.
- One of the highest state-level awards conferred for excellence in literature, fine arts, classical music, folk music and sports, Yash Bharti award was instituted by SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav during his tenure as Chief Minister in 1994. It was, however, discontinued during BJP and BSP regimes.
- It is noted that after the Samajwadi Party came to power in 2013, CM Akhilesh Yadav revived the award with a hike in prize money from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 11 lakh.
- Noted film personality and an alumnus of the Aligarh Muslim University, Naseeruddin Shah has been selected for the prestigious Yash Bharti Samman, for the year 2016-17, for his contributions and achievements in the field of film acting. Shah is also the younger brother of the Vice Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University, Lt. Gen. Zameer Uddin Shah