Essay --

Sahitya Akademi, India’s premier academy of letters was established on 12th March 1954. Although it was established by government Sahitya Akademi functions as an autonomous body. Government Resolution (GR) which laid down the constitution of the Akademi describes it as ‘a national organisation to work actively for the development of Indian letters and to set high literary standards, to foster and co-ordinate literary activities in all the Indian languages and to promote through them all the cultural unity of the country’. History of foundation of Sahitya Akademi dates back to pre-independence time. Roots of Akademi can be traced in a proposal given by The Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal to the then Government of India in which it suggested the formation of National Cultural Trust to encourage cultural activities. After independence Government of India acted upon the proposal and decided to set up three national academies – one for letters, one for visual arts and one for dance, drama and music. Government felt that the state initiative was necessary but once the academies are established it would refrain from interfering in their functioning. Sahitya Akademi, India’s National Academy of Letters, strives for the advancement of literary dialogue and promotion of literary publications in the country. It is the only organisation that promotes literary activities in 24 Indian languages – 22 languages listed under eighth schedule of Indian Constitution and English and Rajasthani. Akademi conducts all its activities from its headquarters named Rabindra Bhavan in New Delhi and its four regional centres based in Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai. Akademi has also set up Centres for Translation at Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and De... ...pulation of India lives in rural and semi-urban areas and in such areas reach of Sahitya Akademi is very limited. Akademi should ensure that book exhibitions and literary seminars are also organised in such areas so that a big section of population which is getting literate, thanks to efforts by governments, would also get familiar with vast sea of literature which would expand their horizons with knowledge. In this era of Information and Technology Sahitya Akademi should strive to make maximum Indian literature available on online platforms so that its consumption can increase manifold. Literature plays a very important role in maintaining the socio-cultural fabric of society. With the advent of globalisation there are complaints of rapid westernisation of Indian society. In such scenario Sahitya Akademi can play immense role to preserve the ‘Indian’ness of India.