Two new Hindi writers Amlendu Tiwari and Om Nagar have been chosen for the 11th Navlekhan award of the Bharatiya Jnanpith. The decision to confer the award on Tiwari for his novel ‘Parityakt’ and on Nagar for his non-fictional prose ‘Nib Ke Cheere Se’ was taken unanimously by a selection panel headed by senior writer and journalist Madhusudan Anand. The prize includes Rs 50,000 cash along with a certificate of merit and an idol of Vagdevi each. Vishnu Nagar, Govind Prasad and Om Nischal were among other members of the selection panel for the award, which is given to first time litterateurs.

 Jnanpith Award 

• The Jnanpith Award is a literary award in India. Along with the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, it is one of the two most prestigious literary honours in the country.
• The award was instituted in 1961. Eligibility is restricted to any Indian citizen who writes in one of the 22 languages listed in Schedule Eight of the Indian constitution.
• It is presented by the Bharatiya Jnanpith, a trust founded by the Sahu Jain family, the publishers of the newspaper The Times of India.
• Starting with the Bengali writer Ashapoorna Devi in 1976, seven women writers have won the award so far.