Bhopal. An award ceremony and prize distribution ceremony was organized on Saturday, October 3, at the Gyan Tirtha Sapre Museum. The chief guest of the program was former Chief Election Commissioner Om Prakash Rawat. The program was presided over by Additional Chief Secretary and Vice Chancellor of Barkatullah University Anupam Rajan. Former MP and working president of MP Rashtriya Bhasha Prachar Samiti Raghunandan Sharma was specially present. Active personalities in the fields of journalism and writing were honored at the function. Along with this, the winning participants of the Tapasvi Pt. Sundarlal Shridhar Smriti state level essay competition were also awarded.
Harikrishna Dutt Education Award, instituted by Sapre Museum, was given to Professor Pramod Kumar (New Delhi), Ashok Manoria Regional Journalism Award to Govind Saxena (Vidisha) and Laxminarayan Gupta Award to Paritosh Verma (Jabalpur).
Former Chief Election Commissioner Om Prakash Rawat, the chief guest at the ceremony, said that the Sapre Museum has established a global identity. Whenever you travel abroad, you’re asked about the museum. He explained that AI could be particularly useful in enhancing such museums. He suggested the Sapre Museum take advantage of this technology.
In his presidential address, Anupam Rajan stated that the Sapre Museum is playing a vital role in preserving heritage. He also assured the institution of adequate support for research.
Special guest Raghunandan Sharma said that Shridhar, the founder of the Sapre Museum, has created a series of honors and awards. These honors are both encouragement and inspiration. They encourage people and motivate them to do great work.
Dr. Pramod Kumar, Professor of Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi, who was awarded the Dr. Harikrishna Dutt Shiksha Samman, while expressing his gratitude to Sapre Museum, said that being selected for this award is an important achievement for me.
Discussing the current landscape, he said that mainstream media, whether print or electronic, is losing its audience and readers. In this era of AI, there is also a need for changes in the methods of media education. The Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi, is taking initiatives in this direction.
Govind Saxena, honoured with the Ashok Manoria Award, said that it is a matter of great pride for me that I am receiving this honour in the name of the great personality in whose company I learnt the basics of journalism.
Paritosh Verma, recipient of the Lakshminarayan Gupta Award, said, “I began my journalism career under the guidance of my father, Ajit Verma. He has been my mentor in journalism.” He added that awards like these remind us of our sense of duty.
In her opening address, the museum’s newly appointed Vice President, Dr. Alpana Trivedi, explained that the museum houses over five crore pages of reference material. There are millions of books, which have been used by over 1200 researchers to complete their research. This journey continues.
Vijaydutt Sridhar, the museum’s founding director, said that with time, we must pass on our responsibilities to the new generation. This work has already begun. New people will now handle all the work at the museum; we will only provide guidance.
Vivek Sridhar welcomed the guests on behalf of the museum. Journalist Mamta Yadav moderated the program. Museum Director Arvind Sridhar proposed the vote of thanks.
In the second phase of the programme, the winning participants of the freedom fighter, Gandhian Sarvodaya worker Tapasvi Pt. Sundarlal Shridhar Smriti State Level Essay Competition were awarded.
Priyanka Kushwaha (Maharana Pratap Government Graduate College, Gadarwara) secured first place. Satyam (Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication, Bhopal) secured second place, while Sakshi Sharma (Maharana Pratap Government Graduate College, Narsinghpur) secured third place.
Seven other participants – Suraj Upadhyay (Raisen), Preeti Kirar (Gadarwara), Priya Sonwani, Madhavi Yadav (Chhatarpur), Anant Vashisht (Bhopal), Palak Kumari (Bhopal) and Manish Ahirwar (Chhatarpur) – were awarded consolation prizes.
