Context: Eminent Hindi writer Vinod Kumar Shukla was bestowed the 59th Jnanpith Award for the year 2024. The 88-year-old short story writer, poet and essayist, is one of the greatest contemporary writers in Hindu language.
Relevance of the Topic:Prelims: Key facts about Jnanpith Award.
About Jnanpith Award
- The Jnanpith Award is the oldest and the highest Indian literary award.
- It is presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their outstanding contribution towards literature.
- It is bestowed only on Indian writers writing in Indian languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India, and English.
- Details of the Award: Citation plaque, a cash prize of ₹11 lakh, and a bronze replica of goddess Saraswati. There is no posthumous conferral of the award.
Eighth Schedule to Indian Constitution
- The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution consists of 22 languages: (1) Assamese, (2) Bengali, (3) Gujarati, (4) Hindi, (5) Kannada, (6) Kashmiri, (7) Konkani, (8) Malayalam, (9) Manipuri, (10) Marathi, (11) Nepali, (12) Oriya, (13) Punjabi, (14) Sanskrit, (15) Sindhi, (16) Tamil, (17) Telugu, (18) Urdu (19) Bodo, (20) Santhali, (21) Maithili and (22) Dogri.
- Of these languages, 14 were initially included in the Constitution. Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali were the latest additions in 2004.