Uttar Pradesh's Bharat-Bharti Samman presented after three years

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday presented literary awards in Lucknow and said that writers have made an important contribution in eradication of social evils through their writings.

The chief minister presented the highest literary honour of the state, Bharat-Bharti Samman, for 2009 to Maheep Singh and for 2011 to Govind Mishra. Kailesh Bajpai, who was selected for 2010 could not attend the function due to illness.

The felicitation ceremony was organised by Hindi Sansthan here to honor noted writers for the years 2009, 2010 and 2011.

The chief minister also presented Mahatma Gandhi Sahitya Samman and Hindi Gaurav Samman to noted litterateurs saying the previous government had stopped these awards which have now been resumed.

"Litterateurs have showed the right path to the society through their ideas and literary compositions," the chief minister said.

In future also they will continue to benefit the society through their creativity and literary pursuits, Yadav said.