International award to be instituted in Tagore's name: PM

Describing Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore as a "multi-faceted genius", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has announced that a prestigious international award will be instituted in his name."Government of India has decided to institute a prestigious international award in the name of Rabindranath Tagore to recognise very distinguished contributions towards the promotion of international brotherhood and fraternity," he said inaugurating the 150th anniversary celebrations of the poet in New Delhi on Saturday.

He said a jury headed by the Prime Minister will select each year from across the globe a citizen of outstanding public eminence who in his or her life and work "epitomises the high universal ideals that Tagore stood for."The first award, he hoped, would be presented by the end of the commemoration period.

Noting that the poet was a multi-faceted genius, Singh said a wide range of projects are being undertaken as part of the anniversary celebrations to make Tagore's work more accessible to a wider audience and to preserve his works for posterity.

Underscoring his commitment to the revival of Viswa Bharati "which stands as a living symbol of the poet's enduring faith in the learning ability and creative power of the young mind and free spirit", he said a special grant of Rs 95 crore would be given to the varsity.

"I can think of no more important task than the revival of Viswa Bharati. As a chancellor of the university, I am personally committed to this important task. The Government of India is putting a lot of resources into Viswa Bharati including a special grant of Rs 95 crore," he said.

The Prime Minister said that a wide range of projects are being undertaken as part of the celebrations to make Tagore's works more accessible to a wider audience and preserve his work for posterity.He said the digital collection of Tagore's paintings released by Congress President Sonia Gandhi has been put together for the first time and some important material on Tagore that is on celluloid restored and packaged for national and international dissemination, after sub-titling in English.

"A unique project has been taken up by the scholars of international repute of Jadavpur University in the creation of an online electronic variorum edition of the works of Tagore in English and Bengali....

"With a view to revitalise some of our important cultural institutions and to encourage high quality research in their precious resources, the ministry of Culture has introduced a new Tagore National Fellowship for Culture.

"Under the scheme, renowned scholars have been invited to take up research projects on unknown or lesser known cultural resources that lie within the cultural institutions," he said.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Tagore, who penned the national anthems of both India and Bangladesh, gave new interpretations and new meanings to all traditional ideas.

He said the joint celebrations of Tagore's 15th birth anniversary by India and Bangladesh has "unique significance" and first of its kind in cultural exchanges with our neighbour.

Mukherjee said the government strives to popularise the rich legacy of Tagore internationally.He said under the re-named Tagore Culture Complex Scheme, a number of culture complexes will be built to mark the 150th birth anniversary of the internationally acclaimed poet.

Speaking on the occasion, Culture Minister Kumari Selja noted that the joint celebrations were planned in January last year itself by the Prime Ministers of the two countries and appreciated the enthusiasm of the Bangladesh government. 

Courtesy : DDN