Sahitya Akademi Yuva & Bal Sahitya Puraskar 2025

• 20 Jun 2025

Source: TH 

Why in News? 

The Sahitya Akademi (India’s National Academy of Letters) announced the Yuva Puraskar for 23 writers and Bal Sahitya Puraskar for 24 authors across 24 Indian languages for 2025. 

What is Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar & Sahitya Akademi Bal Sahitya Puraskar? 

Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar 

• About: Instituted in 2011, this annual award recognises young Indian writers aged 35 or below for their original literary works in any of the 24 Indian languages, including English, recognised by the Sahitya Akademi. 
• Award Components: Rs 50,000 cash prize, an engraved copper plaque, and a citation. 
• Eligibility Criteria: Work must be original (creative or critical), published within the last 5 years, and at least 49 pages long. 
  • Award is given once per author per language. 
  • Ineligible works include translations, abridgements, theses, e-books, posthumous publications, and works by NRIs, PIOs, or dual citizens. 
• Selection Process: Public call for entries → Preliminary evaluation by referees → Final selection by a three-member language jury → Approval by Executive Board → Winners announced at a special function. 

Sahitya Akademi Bal Sahitya Puraskar 

• About: Instituted in 2010, it is awarded annually to honour outstanding children’s literature meant for readers aged 9 to 16 years, in the 24 Indian languages recognised by the Akademi. 
• Award Components: Rs 50,000, an engraved plaque, a shawl, and a citation. 
• Eligibility Criteria: 
  • Work must be original and creative, published within the preceding 5 years. 
  • At least 3 eligible books are required in a language for the award to be considered. 
    • Myth adaptations are allowed. 
    • Posthumous works are eligible if the author passed away within the 5-year window. 
  • Ineligible works include translations, anthologies, abridgements, theses,and works by Board members, Fellows, or Bhasha Samman awardees. 

What is Sahitya Akademi & Its Awards? 

• About Sahitya Akademi: It is an autonomous organisation established in 1952 and formally inaugurated in 1954, dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. It was registered as a society in 1956 under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.  
  • It has its head office in Delhi and regional offices in Kolkata, Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, and Agartala. 
• Functions: 
  • Encourage inter-lingual literary dialogue, mutual translations, and publication of literary works. 
  • Produces journals, monographs, anthologies, encyclopedias, bibliographies, and histories of literature. 
• Awards & Honours: The Akademi confers 24 Annual Literary Awards (one in each recognised language) and 24 Translation Awards for works translated from and into Indian languages.  
  • It also presents the Bhasha Samman for contributions to unrecognised languages and classical/medieval literature.  
  • Eminent writers are honoured through Fellowships (such as the Anand Coomaraswamy and Premchand Fellowships) and are elected as Fellows and Honorary Fellows of the Akademi. 
• Sahitya Akademi Awards: Established in 1954, these annual literary honours conferred by the Sahitya Akademi for outstanding books of literary merit in any of the 22 languages listed in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution, as well as in English and Rajasthani. 
  • It is the second-highest literary honour by the Government of India, after the Jnanpith award.