Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

History

The Akademi was founded on 24 September 1981 by the

Government of Gujarat The Government of Gujarat, also known as Gujarat Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Gujarat and its 33 districts. It consists of an executive of the legislators appointed by the Governor of Gujarat, a judiciar ...

. It was inaugurated on 17 June 1982 with the appointment of a chairman, a vice chairman and other members.

Activity

The main aim of the Akademi is to: * Encourage organizations and writers in Gujarat to promote the development of Gujarati, Sanskrit and other modern languages * Promote the research of Gujarati folk literature * Collect and publish books of literature * Assemble and maintain a library * Recognize and aid literary societies * Publish criticism of various forms of literature * Organize birthday celebrations for noted authors * Award prizes for books published in different forms of literature * Award financial scholarships to students of literature * Financially assist elderly, physically handicapped, and indigent authors living in Gujarat. * Annually award

Sahitya Gaurav Puraskar The Sahitya Gaurav Puraskar ( Gujarati: સાહિત્ય ગૌરવ પુરસ્કાર), also known as Sahitya Gaurav Award, is a literary honour in Gujarat, India. The award is conferred by Gujarat Sahitya Akademi and Government of Gu ...

to an established author and Yuva Gaurav Puraskar to a young writer. * Since 2016, the Akademi has conferred the Sahityaratna Award to Gujarati authors for their significant contribution; and the

Ramanlal Nilkanth Hasya Paritoshik The Ramanlal Nilkanth Hasya Prize ( gu, રમણલાલ નિલકંઠ હાસ્ય પારિતોષિક), is a literary honour in Gujarat, India. It is named after renowned Gujarati writer Ramanbhai Neelkanth. The award is confer ...

which is conferred to Gujarati authors for their significant contribution in Gujarati humorous literature.

Organisation

The Gujarat Academy oversees five other academies; namely the Hindi Sahitya Academy for

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

, the Sanskrit Sahitya Academy for

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

, the Kutchi Sahitya Academy for Kutchi, the Sindhi Sahitya Academy for Sindhi and the Urdu Sahitya Academy for

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

The chairman, the vice chairman and the registrar have day to day control of the Akademi. The Akademi's overall controlling authorities are the general body and the executive council. The term of the general body is 5 years. The general body is made of 41 members including the education commissioner of Gujarat, the financial adviser of the education department, the registrar of Akademi, the higher education commissioner of Gujarat, the director of language of Gujarat, five members from the Gujarati literary community selected by the state government, 9 members selected by the committee appointed by representative of different Gujarati literary institutions, 8 members representing of the University of Gujarat, 3 members selected by the members of the general body of the Akademi, 9 members selected by a committee appointed by Gujarati writers, 2 members who have been awarded the

Sahitya Gaurav Puraskar The Sahitya Gaurav Puraskar ( Gujarati: સાહિત્ય ગૌરવ પુરસ્કાર), also known as Sahitya Gaurav Award, is a literary honour in Gujarat, India. The award is conferred by Gujarat Sahitya Akademi and Government of Gu ...

. The executive council is made up of a maximum of ten members including the chairman, the registrar and the vice-chairman of the Akademi, the education commissioner of Gujarat, the financial adviser of the education department, the education commissioner of Gujarat and five members of the general body selected by the state government.

List of chairmen

Following people served as chairmen:

List of registrars

Following people served as registrars:

Controversy

The Akademi is an autonomous body empowered by its constitution to elect its chairman through a voting process by the 41 members of the general body. The Akademi did not have a chairman from 2003 to 2015 as the government did not held an election. It was run by the registrar in-charge and the secretary of the sports, youth and cultural activities department; ex-offcio. In April 2015, the state government appointed Bhagyesh Jha, a Gujarati writer and retired

IAS IAS may refer to: Science * Institute for Advanced Study, in Princeton, New Jersey, United States * Image Analysis & Stereology, the official journal of the International Society for Stereology & Image Analysis. * Iowa Archeological Society, Uni ...

officer, as the new chairman of the Akademi without any election. This resulted in the Autonomous Academy Agitation (''Swayatta Akademi Andolan'') led by

Gujarati Sahitya Parishad Gujarati Sahitya Parishad () is a literary organisation for the promotion of Gujarati literature located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It was founded by Ranjitram Mehta with the aim of creating literature appealing to all classes of society an ...

, the oldest literary institute in Gujarat and several Gujarati writers including Manishi Jani, Shirish Panchal,

Dhiru Parikh Dhiru Ishwarlal Parikh (31 August 1933 – 9 May 2021) was an Indian Gujarati poet, short story writer and critic. He was an editor of ''Kavilok'' and ''Kumar'', Gujarati literary magazines. Biography Dhiru Parikh was born on 31 August 1933 at ...

,

Chandrakant Topiwala Chandrakant Amritlal Topiwala is a Gujarati language poet and critic from Gujarat, India. Early life Topiwala was born on 7 August 1936 at Vadodara, to Amritlal and Lilavati. He completed his Bachelor of Arts in Gujarati from the University o ...

, Bharat Mehta, Paresh Naik and Raju Solanki. Parishad boycotted the activities of the Akademi in protest. In March 2016, the Gujarati poet Harsh Brahmbhatt declined the award which had been conferred to him by the Akademi for his book. In November 2015, Bhagyesh Jha and two other writers

Chinu Modi Chinu Modi ( gu, ચિનુ મોદી ), (30 September 1939 – 19 March 2017), also known by his pen name Irshad (Gujarati: ઈર્શાદ), was a Gujarati language poet, novelist, short story writer and critic from Gujarat, India. Educ ...

and

Vinod Bhatt Vinod Bhatt (14 January 1938 – 23 May 2018) was a Gujarati humour essayist and biographer from Gujarat, India. Biography Vinod Bhatt was born on 14 January 1938 at Nandol near Dehgam (now in Gujarat) to Jashvantlal and Jayabahen. He mat ...

, said to be the supporter of Jha, used the word ''

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...

'' for the writers like

Dhiru Parikh Dhiru Ishwarlal Parikh (31 August 1933 – 9 May 2021) was an Indian Gujarati poet, short story writer and critic. He was an editor of ''Kavilok'' and ''Kumar'', Gujarati literary magazines. Biography Dhiru Parikh was born on 31 August 1933 at ...

and

Niranjan Bhagat Niranjan Narhari Bhagat (18 May 1926 – 1 February 2018) was an Indian Gujarati language poet and commentator who won the 1999 Sahitya Akademi Award for Gujarati language for his critical work ''Gujarati Sahiyta – Purvardha Uttarardha''. He ...

, who had supported the agitation. Pravin Pandya returned the award he had received in 2004 in protest. Another Gujarati writer and literary critic, Bharat Mehta, returned the award which he had received in 2008. Dhiru Parikh, along with other writers, submitted a

public interest litigation The chief instrument through which judicial activism has flourished in India is public interest litigation (PIL) or social action litigation (SAL). ''Public interest litigation'' (PIL) refers to litigation undertaken to secure public interest and de ...

to the

Gujarat High Court The Gujarat High Court is the High Court of the state of Gujarat. It was established on 1 May 1960 under the ''Bombay Re-organisation Act, 1960'' after the state of Gujarat split from Bombay State. The seat of the court is Ahmedabad. The pre ...

. In January 2020, another writer Bipin Patel refused the award presented by Akademi for his story collection ''Vaans Na Ful'' citing the inaction by the government to restore autonomy of the Akademi.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Gujarati literature 1981 establishments in Gujarat Organizations established in 1981 Government of Gujarat Indic literature societies Book publishing companies of India Arts organizations established in 1981 Language regulators