The third Jaipal-Julius-Hanna Literary Award Ceremony and Multilingual Durang Performance will be held on November 30 in Ranchi. 

This year’s National Adivasi Literary Awards will be presented to Vinod Motiram Atram for Gondi, Shikha Minz for Sadri, and Albinus Hembrom for Santali. The event, scheduled to take place at TRI Hall, Ranchi, will have Odisha’s renowned Santali writer and Padmashri awardee Dr. Damayanti Beshra as the chief guest, who will honor these three authors.

Following the award ceremony, a multilingual Adivasi-indigenous Durang performance will be organized, featuring poets and performers from Jharkhand, Maharashtra, and West Bengal. They will present their poetry and songs in 15 languages. The event is being hosted by the Pyara Kerketta Foundation in collaboration with the Tata Steel Foundation.

Award Convener Vandana Tete, Chief Executive of the Pyara Kerketta Foundation, shared that the 2024 Jaipal-Julius-Hanna Literary Awards are being presented for three poetry collections. The awarded works include 'Hirwal Meta', a Gondi poetry collection by Vinod Motiram Atram from Maharashtra; 'Niradan', a Sadri collection by Shikha Minz from Siliguri, West Bengal; and 'Sirjonre Jivedok', a Santali collection by Albinus Hembram from Pakur, Jharkhand.

The second session of the event will feature the multilingual Adivasi-indigenous Durang performance, showcasing poetry and songs by various artists: Roshni Asur and Shradhanand Asur (Asur); Monika Singh (Bhumij); Vishnu Birhor (Birhor); Samuel Birjia (Birjia); Vinod Motiram Atram (Gondi); Pani Purti (Ho); Neeta Kusum Bilung (Kharia); Shanti Bharat (Khortha); Dr. Shanti Khalkho (Kurukh); Ratan Kumar Mahato ‘Satyarthi’ (Kurmali); Lalit Kishor Nag, Jadu Munda (Mundari); Vicky Minz (Nagpuri); Vishnu Charan Singh Munda (Panchpargania); Shikha Minz (Sadri); and Ledem Mardi and Albinus Hembram (Santali). Additionally, children from Asur Loor Akhra (Johbhipat and Lodam Pat) and Birjia Loor Akhra, Ranchi, will perform songs. Two video songs focusing on Jaipal Singh Munda and the concept of 'Adi Dharma', created by Ashwini Kumar Pankaj, will also be released during the program.

Ms. Tete further informed that the award has been instituted in memory of the country’s foremost Adivasi leader Jaipal Singh Munda, Jharkhand movement writer-journalist Julius Tigga, and revolutionary leader Hanna Bodra. Initiated in 2022, the award aims to encourage Adivasi literature and writers. Each year, three outstanding original manuscripts written in any Adivasi language-script or in Hindi, English, or regional languages are selected for publication. The awardees receive an advance royalty, 50 complimentary copies of their book, a certificate of honor, and other benefits.